


Behind a Smoke Colored Curtain

by Snakesareprettycooltbh



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Also Sebastian straight up dies in the first chapter, F/F, M/M, Mystery, Ocs as villains and minor characters, Slow Burn, The Sieglizzy is really background, ciel is 18, i try my best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-14 00:49:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9149350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snakesareprettycooltbh/pseuds/Snakesareprettycooltbh
Summary: At the ripe old age of eighteen, Ciel still hadn't gotten his revenge. This wasn't really a problem though, since there was still plenty of time. At least, that's what he thought before Sebastian dropped dead for no apparent reason, forcing him to team up with everyone's favorite opium dealer in order to find those behind his parent's murder.





	1. The death, and what comes after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me again, back at it again with the Ciel/Lau! I've got a plan for this story and I'm pretty excited about it, so i hope y'all will stick around and enjoy. Thank you so much for giving me a chance and reading! Love you.

Avery Scott looked decidedly unlike your stereotypical villain. To start with, his nose was of average proportion, and not in the slightest way hooked. His hair was thin, wispy, and straw coloured. A far cry from the greasy dark locks often described in stories. He didn't really have the sharp cheekbones and pale skin aesthetic either, disappointing as this might be to those with a thing for the bad boys. Really, he looked something like a cheerful school professor. With his plump face and pink cheeks, not to mention the welcoming smile, no one in The White Swan Inn suspected him of practicing black magic in their small room, up the stairs and down the hall from the crowded bar.

Of course, in real life, villains rarely look the way you would expect them to. Madame Red hadn't looked like one half of Jack the Ripper. The Viscount of Druitt hadn't looked like a human trafficker. Baron Kelvin hadn't looked like a kidnapper. Sebastian hadn't looked like a demon. That last one wasn't necessarily the best example, since few people really have a good idea of what a demon should look like. Generally though, their idea involves horns and a forked tail, not messy black hair and a handful of cutlery.

So there it was. Avery Scott did not look like a villain, but neither did anyone else. It certainly didn't stop him from being a villain. It certainly didn't stop his black magic practices in his room in The White Swan Inn.

The room, like the man, looked relatively harmless. It's main purpose was not to be dramatic or aesthetically pleasing. It's main purpose was to house it's resident for the six to eight hours that they were sleeping there. The room had a small cot pushed to one side of it. The blankets were reasonably soft, but a plain and simple brown colour. The walls were wood paneling. The floor was uncarpeted. No pictures hung on the wall, but the windows had curtains. The floor creaked but the door had a working bolt. The walls were sturdy and had no mice, however you could hear everything that went on downstairs.

The crowd downstairs was currently singing a drunken tune, which was in his favour. Between the smell of spirits and their own singing, they didn't smell the burning white sage or hear the faint chanting. Not that it would have mattered if they had. They probably would have assumed the smell was some sort of drug. They wouldn't have understood the significance of the chant unless they understood Latin, which was the language it was in.

He had even had his dinner brought up to his room. The barmaid who passed it through the door was as blind as anyone else to everything going on. She had gone as far as to offer him a slice of apple pie on the house when he complimented the colour of her skirt. He declined, as he didn't have time for such things. However, he did appreciate that his charm remained as effective as ever.

Despite his concentration on the task at hand, Avery had to laugh at how oblivious people could be about the number of things going on under their noses. You could chop off a chicken's head and start screaming about the end of the world, and a drunk enough man would laugh it off. It was so absurd that people would willingly make themselves a fool like that. Not only that, they'd pay to do it.

He realized his thoughts were getting off track. Quickly, he refocused his concentration. He had been planning this for eight years. He had travelled the world for the knowledge that he was putting to use. He had given up every pleasure and personal need to get to this moment. Now was not the time to slack off.

Clearing his head of all mocking and disdainful thoughts, he let himself slip into a meditative state. The people and their idiocy melted away. All that was left was the flickering candlelight, the smoky smell, and his goal. It was finally time for the goal to become a reality. Again, he began to chant.

***

Approximately three miles away from our recently introduced villain and his dubious actions in the upstairs of The White Swan Inn, Ciel Phantomhive was putting significant effort into making a paper airplane. He hadn't quite decided who he would aim it at, but he would figure that out when the plane was done. There were generally plenty of good options around the manor at any point in time. 

Of course, he wouldn't be caught dead making or throwing paper airplanes in public, as he was now an adult with a relatively high amount of social standing. However, it seemed safe to assume that none of his servants would rat him out to the news for it. Sebastian would probably like to, but that was nothing a simple order couldn't fix.

Between working on his paperwork for the Funtom company, and working on the airplane (equal effort went into both), he was beginning to get quite hungry. He decided that he could really go for some cake. His sweet tooth was not something that had disappeared along with his childhood. 

"Sebastian." he called out. He didn't really need to yell. However far away he was, and however thick the walls were, Sebastian would hear him.

As expected, Sebastian appeared seconds after being called. All part of the butler aesthetic. "You wanted something, my lord?" he asked. 

Ciel glared at him from the desk. "Obviously, or I wouldn't have called. I want something to eat. A cake, or something of the sort." 

"I'm afraid it might ruin your supper. Would a dish of caramelized nuts do instead?"

His glare didn't waver. "Don't be impertinent. I asked for cake. Do I need to make it an order?"

Sebastian gave a brief bow. "Of course not. I was simply trying to do what's best for you. Should you decide to ruin your appetite and succumb to obesity, that is your own choice. I'll return with the cake you requested, my lord."

After the butler left, Ciel made up his mind that he would be the target of the paper plane. It wouldn't hurt Sebastian, but at least he could get the emotional satisfaction of throwing things at him. In Ciel's experience, it never failed to be a mood booster. 

When Sebastian returned with the cake on a tray, Ciel hid the airplane in his lap and waited for the perfect opportunity. However, that opportunity never came. Instead, things went downhill in a rather brisk fashion.

One minute, Sebastian was lifting the plate of cake off the cart, and Ciel was holding his breath in anticipation. The next moment, Sebastian was on the floor as if in a dead faint, and Ciel was staring in open mouthed shock.

Used to dealing with unexpected situations, he quickly recovered and got up from his desk to investigate the situation further. It seemed safe to assume that this was some sort of joke, although to what purpose he wasn't sure. Whatever it was, he would order Sebastian to stop. That was, immediately after a well aimed kick in the side or two. No matter how competent a butler he was, Ciel couldn't exactly have him making a fool of him.

"Stop fooling around. Get up, will you?" he said, looking down at his butler's motionless form. When he didn't budge, he nudged him with his foot. "This is ridiculous. I mean it Sebastian, get up!"

Temper getting the better of him, he kicked this time. Hard. "I said get up! Stop playing around! Does this really need to be an order? Surely this goes against your damned aesthetics?!"

Getting angrier, he knelt down and slapped him across the face. "This is an order! Stop pretending! Stand up right now! Get up! Get up! Get up! It's an order, I tell you!". By the end, he was starting to yell. No matter what he said though, there was no movement from the demon. Sebastian remained limp and unresponsive.

Ciel's anger was beginning to have a tinge of panic. Quickly, he tried to regulate his breathing and think rationally. Perhaps he could check his pulse. Did demons even have a pulse? He had never bothered to find out, as it had never seemed relevant. Now, however, it seemed worth a try to figure out what was going on. It wasn't like he had any better ideas on the spot like this.

He groped at Sebastian's wrist, but felt nothing. However, Sebastian's gloves were fairly thick, so it would be hard to feel much either way. Still not satisfied, he took the edge of the glove and pulled it off. However, before he could check his pulse, he noticed something. He blinked for a moment. When it didn't go away, he tried rubbing his eyes and pinching himself.

No amount of pinching changed what was staring him in the face. Sebastian's hand was blank. There was no contract to be seen.

Ciel tried to understand what was going on, but couldn't. Frantically, he pulled off the other glove. It was possible he had just mixed up which hand the contract was on, right? It was no use, though. Both hands were blank, unmarred skin. 

Hands clenched, he jumped up off the floor and ran to his bedroom. Standing in front of his mirror, he steeled himself before untying the eyepatch. Back at him, the mirror reflected what it hadn't in eight long years: two matching blue eyes. Any sign that there had ever been any sort of contract was gone.

Ciel generally prided himself on being able to deal with anything. However, this was too much, even for him. The game he had been playing for so long. His every wish and dream. Everything he lived for. Everything that gave him purpose. It was all crumbling at his feet without any prior warning, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He ran back to the study to confirm that Sebastian's apparently lifeless body was still there. As expected, it hadn't moved. Lacking any other immediate plan, Ciel went back to kicking it. Perhaps he was dead and couldn't feel anything, but Ciel need to vent.

However, it didn't seem to be helping much. With every kick, his frustration and anger only increased. As the kicks increased in force and speed, he started to cry. Steadily the crying increased in volume until it was a combination of sobs and yells. Suddenly, the full magnitude of everything hit him with a flash of red. He collapsed onto his knees and let out a scream of frustration. He wasn't even sure which part he was screaming about. It didn't really seem to matter. 

So caught up in this he was, he didn't really think about who might be hearing him. He was suddenly brought back to reality when Lau, uninvited as usual, poked his head through the door. "Something wrong, lord earl?" he asked casually.

Ciel quickly retied his eyepatch before looking at him incredulously from where he had just been screaming beside his butler's corpse. "What do you think?!" he asked.

Lau only shrugged. "I'm sensing that that's a yes. So what's the problem?"

Still completely incredulous, Ciel gestured to Sebastian's body. "What do you think?!" he repeated.

Lau let himself into the room, and sat beside him on the floor. "Is he dead?" he asked. He didn't seem particularly bothered by the presence of a corpse. On the other hand, Ciel couldn't really think of a circumstance where the man had been particularly bothered by anything.

"I think so. I'm not sure. I mean, he can't be. He can't be dead, I didn't say he could die!" Ciel yelled.

"I'm getting a bit of deja vu here. Is it just me?"

"Don't be ridiculous, that was an act! I knew he wasn't dead that time!" Ciel continued to yell. In his current state, he wasn't really thinking about what he was saying.

"Oh?" Lau asked, clearly intrigued by where the conversation was going. He had always been curious about the earl's butler. Maybe this was his chance to get some answers.

"He can't do anything without my orders! He can't just die! Back then, I ordered him awake when he was already awake, so he wasn't disobeying any orders. I've already done that though, see? And he still won't stop!"

"Why can't he do anything without your orders?" Lau pushed.

"Because that's the contract! But now the contracts gone! See?! Look at his hand! It's gone!" he yelled, gesturing at the blank skin angrily, not thinking at all.

It was getting closer to the truth. "What contract?"

This brought Ciel back to reality. He paused and stared at Lau for a moment. He considered all his options. Lau had seen enough of Sebastian's abilities that he would be able to believe he wasn't human. That meant there was no risk of him writing him off as insane. Not only that, Lau wasn't exactly the type to cart people off to the asylum even if he did decide that they were insane.

Besides, despite how idiotic he could act, Ciel knew that Lau was actually quite clever. If anyone could help him figure out what to do, it was him. With this, he started to regain some hope. Maybe things could still be fixed.

"It's a long story, one better told over tea. Come on, I'll get some tea and biscuits from the kitchen. Meet me in the lounge. I'll fill you in there." he suggested after composing himself. He was a Phantomhive. He couldn't just fall apart like that. Already he was feeling ashamed.

Lau grumbled about how Ciel was putting this off, but he obliged and went off in the direction of the lounge while Ciel headed to the kitchens.

Approximately twenty minutes later, he entered the lounge with a tray of slightly burned shortbread and a pot of earl grey tea. He had had some difficulty brushing off the servants questions about why Sebastian wasn't the one doing this, but fortunately he was an experienced liar. He had spun some tale about Sebastian going on a last minute errand to the city. Being somewhat gullible, the servants didn't notice the plot hole in this story. The carriage was still in the garage, and it wouldn't make any sense for Sebastian to go without it. No one in their right mind would take that journey on foot.

Lau looked at him expectantly as he sat down. Ciel opened his mouth, and realized he had no idea where to start.

"Right. Well, I'm sure you've noticed that Sebastian was an abnormally good butler." he started.

"Was he? Hmm, I never noticed."

Ciel glared. "Shut up, you know he was. Just listen, okay?"

"I'm listening, I'm listening"

He tried again. "So, it probably doesn't come as that much of a surprise to you that he was not, well, human."

Lau raised his eyebrows slightly before gesturing for him to continue. Not seeing any bad signs, Ciel gave in and told the whole story. Lau listened patiently the whole time. He talked about the fire, his parents death, his own kidnapping. He talked about how he had called out, for anyone. He talked about how Sebastian had answered.

"And so, I was saved. If I had been there even a moment longer, I might have lost myself. I wasn't though, and I didn't."

"So what happened next? Since you're still here, I have to assume you never got your revenge." Lau prompted.

"No. We never even got close. Of course, with more time we would have, but now he's gone and died or something. See, the sign of the contract was on his hand and my eye, but now they're both gone."

"So that's why you always wear an eyepatch! Everything's really starting to add up now. Why are you still wearing it though? It's not like you still have a contract to hide." he asked.

Ciel rolled his visible eye. "Everyone probably thinks that my eye was gouged out, or something equally horrific. What would they think if I suddenly showed up with both eyes in perfect condition? No, I think I have to keep wearing it. It's alright, at this point I'm used to it."

Lau nodded in understanding, before biting down on a biscuit. "So, what do you plan to do now?" he asked, mouth full of crumbs.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm not going to give up. Even without Sebastian, I'm going to get my revenge. You can help me if you like."

Lau clapped his hands, oddly cheerful. "Sounds like quite an adventure, eh? This should be fun, earl."

"If you're going to be involved, you have to actually be useful. Think hard. Do you know anything that could be of use here?" he asked.

"Not really. Let me think on it while I finish my tea." he said, taking a sip. Ciel sat back to drink his as well. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Lau suddenly jerked and put his teacup down in a rush.

"Yes?" Ciel asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I just remembered something!"

"And?"

He cleared his throat. "So, this was about eight years ago. I was in a tavern in what one might call a rather sketchy side of London."

"Unsurprising." Ciel commented.

"Don't be such a bully, I'm trying to help you out here." Lau whined.

"Fine. Continue."

He went back to his story. "So, I saw one of my clients there. He often bought my product, so I was reasonably familiar with him. I invited him over to my table for a drink or two. However, once he sat down it became clear that he was already quite inebriated. He almost fell off the chair, and the smell was revolting."

"Once again, unsurprising. You did say that he was one of your regular customers."

Lau shushed him. "I didn't want to be rude, so I stayed at the table and listened. My, the things that he said. Sober, he had always been tight lipped. With a couple of drinks in him, as well as whatever other substances he may have previously consumed, he was ready to spill his life story. It was quite the life too, you know. Apparently, he had been in prison four or five times-he couldn't remember the exact number in the state he was in. Most of his crimes involved arson. Word was, he could create some of the worst fires in London. If only he had been as good at not getting caught for them. He had eventually gotten in a situation where he was facing the death sentence. He had just about given up all hope when a mysterious man in a mask broke him out of prison in the middle of the night."

"So what happened next?" Ciel asked. "What did the man want from him?"

"Apparently, the man had a job for him."

"Which was?"

"The job was of utmost importance to this man. He would pay this customer of mine enough money to live the rest of his life comfortably. However, if he didn't complete the job, the masked man promised that he would be returned to prison and the noose that waited there. Lacking other options, he agreed to it."

Ciel growled with frustration. "Stop beating around the bush, Lau! What was the job?!"

"At the date and time given to him in a secret letter, he was to set the manor of a certain wealthy family on fire. At the time, he couldn't remember the name of the family. However, given the timelines, I think there's a good chance that it was, in fact, your manor he was referring to." he finished.

Ciel stared at him in shock. The silence was broken when the handle of his teacup snapped off with a loud crack. "You seem tense." Lau observed cheerfully.

"Of course I'm tense! Why didn't you tell me before?!" he yelled.

Lau only shrugged. "You never asked."

Ciel started to shake. This was supposed to have been a normal day, not one where he lost Sebastian and gained the first real clue about his parent's death and his own kidnapping in the span of a few hours. Lau looked uncharacteristically concerned. He leaned across the table to put his hand on Ciel's in what seemed to be an attempt at comfort. Ciel only jerked his hand away and glared.

"Do you know where we can find this person now? He's the best clue we have, we should ask him what he knows. Just your story isn't enough to get us anywhere." 

Lau nodded. "Last I heard, he works on the docks. He only works night shifts though, so we cant find him 'til after dark."

"That's fine. As long as you'll be able to recognize him. When should we do it?" he responded quickly.

"I'm always free, lord earl. It's up to you when we go. However, there's something else you need to consider. What are you going to do about Sebastian? Presumably you need to call the yard, explain it to the servants, arrange the funeral, and whatever else you nobles do in the event of a servant's death."

Ciel was not so occupied with his own revenge that he forgot his responsibilities. "Of course, you're right. I'll need some time for all of that. Meet me at the manor around dinner, a week from now. Don't be late."

Lau stood up to leave. "I wouldn't dream of it."


	2. The funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ciel has to sort out the mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Y'all are great.

It had been two hours since Sebastian's sudden death, and Ciel had worked through the stages of grief. He had now arrived at acceptance, and the composure that came with it. After inspecting the body one last time, he went down to the kitchens the find the servants. 

"Bard." he announced from the doorway. "I need you to fetch the yard. You can take the carriage with Snake. Try to be quick about it."

The cook looked confused. "Why do you need the yard-" he started to ask. However, Ciel silenced him with a glare. "Right, right. It's none of my business. Right away, my lord." he finished instead.

After the two left, Ciel quickly went upstairs. He could tell the others still wanted to ask questions, and he didn't really feel like dealing with them before it was necessary. He remembered how distraught they had been the first time they thought Sebastian had died. He wasn't in the mood to deal with that mess again.

Needing something to do before they arrived, he went to make himself look more presentable. The fact that his butler died for no obvious reason with him as the only witness would certainly look suspicious no matter what. The least he could do was try and look like a good, upstanding citizen. 

As he ran a comb through his hair, a thought crossed his mind. Presumably they would do an autopsy. What would they even find? Did demons look the same as everyone else on the inside, or would they discover something disturbing, like thirteen lungs or an eyeball in the center of his heart? He had to stifle a giggle at the mental image. Immediately after, he questioned his own sanity for finding it so amusing.

He had only just finished buttoning his good blazer when he heard the sound of voices downstairs. He slipped out of his room to make his usual dramatic entrance at the top of the main staircase. He felt slightly odd doing it without Sebastian by his side. He supposed it was something he'd have to get used to.

"Officer Randall. A pleasure." he greeted the man at the bottom of the stairs, who currently looked as though he'd rather be anywhere else. 

"I wish that I could say the same for you." he snapped back. "Now, why did you call me here, Phantomhive? I'm extremely busy, so this had better be important."

Ciel's smile was forced. "I assure you, it is. I have a bit of a situation here, you see. If you'd just follow me."

Randall followed him with only mild grumbling. There was something in Ciel's eye that gave away how serious the situation was. 

When they reached the study, Ciel stopped him before they entered. "I'll just explain the situation to you briefly before we go in." he suggested. When Randall nodded, he went on. "Earlier today, I was in my study when my butler came in with a mid afternoon snack. Moments after he lifted the plate off the cart, he dropped to the ground. At first, I assumed he'd fainted. However, upon closer inspection, I came to the conclusion that he died. I couldn't tell you what the cause of death was. Perhaps an autopsy will be able to? Either way, the body is still there."

Randall looked at him skeptically. "Approximately what time did he 'drop', as you said?"

"I really can't be sure. I was rather distracted by everything that was going on, I'm sure you understand." he answered sharply.

"Quite. Well, I suppose I'll have to take a look. One more thing though. Did you touch anything, or move anything at the scene?" 

Ciel rolled his eyes as he turned the doorknob. "I'm not an idiot. All I changed was the state of his hands. I removed his gloves to check for a pulse."

With a huff of irritation, Randall followed him in. Over the next half hour, he carefully inspected everything, taking little notes and furrowing his brows.

After he had seen everything there was to see, he sent a messenger back to London for extra help. "It's a very odd case. Very odd indeed." he muttered under his breath. Having confirmed that Sebastian was in fact dead, he also added the undertaker to his list of people to bring back. Ciel remained stoic throughout all of this, but at the mention of the undertaker he groaned to himself.

The remaining servants, Mey Rin, Tanaka, and Finny, were beginning to get more and more suspicious. No one had explained anything to them, and Sebastian had been missing for hours. There wasn't a single instance they could recall where he had been away from the young master that long.

Deciding that it wasn't practical to put it off any longer, Ciel went down to the kitchens to break the news to them. He sat them down at the table. They watched nervously as he paced, trying to find the words. "Whatever it is you need to tell us, we won't react badly. You don't have to worry about us." Finny spoke up nervously.

"I believe you, Finny. I suppose there's just no easy way to tell you this. Earlier today, Sebastian seems to have died. I know this will be hard for you, but we will simply have to manage as best we can."

He would have said more, but Mey Rin let out an extremely loud wail, followed by Finny. "We won't react badly, they said." he muttered. 

"I'm sure you have much business to attend to upstairs, my lord. Let me deal with this." Tanaka offered. Ciel nodded gratefully and made his exit.

The rest of the night was exhausting. There was a repeat, albeit quieter, performance in the kitchens when Bard and Snake were told the news. Ciel was forced into giving a semi motivational speech again about how they had to keep their chins up and carry on. He also had to play host to the members of the yard who were traipsing around his house at what was by this time quite a late hour. To top it off, he had to sit through undertaker's cryptic comments and inappropriate jokes. They were bad enough in broad daylight, but at midnight on a day like this Ciel was giving serious thought to strangling the man.

When they finally left, it was some ungodly hour of the morning. About all Ciel had the energy to do was change into his nightshirt and fall into bed. He didn't move until Tanaka shook him awake to tell him that it was time for breakfast, and both Lady Elizabeth and Prince Soma had arrived.

***

Two more hours of tears and useless attempts at comfort, he managed to shoo his friends away. They promised to be back every day with fresh baking, books, and games to play together. He appreciated their efforts to cheer him up, but never the less it was rather wearing. At the moment he didn't need games or anything of the sort. He needed peace and quiet to plan for the funeral and everything that would come after it.

Fortunately, he had never slacked off in terms of running the Funtom company just because Sebastian could do it for him. Therefore, there was no risk of him losing any money as a result of his passing. Ciel was never hugely concerned with his fortune, but it was still a comfort to know that it was there. Besides, without Sebastian, who knew what circumstances he might end up in. He might need to bribe his way out of something.

In the years that had passed since he first became head of the Phantomhive household, he had also developed strong business connections. Everything involving the company was safe.

In terms of his immediate personal safety, he trusted the servants to protect the manor as well as usual. Nothing could get past them, he knew. He was slightly more concerned about his safety outside of the manor, but he wasn't a child anymore. He knew how to protect himself, and he always carried a fully loaded handgun. Besides, if he was going to have Lau with him in the upcoming weeks, that was even safer. Lau seemed harmless, but he could be a formidable force when he wanted to be. 

Just as he began sorting through the paperwork for the funeral, he heard a knock on the door. "Come in." he said with a sigh of exasperation. 

Finny opened the door and entered nervously. Ciel raised his eyebrows. The gardener seemed to be hiding something behind him. "Yes?" Ciel asked.

"Well, I know it isn't my place or anything-" he stuttered out. "-but I've been growing this little flower." He brought a potted sunflower out from behind his back before continuing. "And its not as fancy as the flowers you usually keep around the manor, but it's just such a nice cheerful flower that I thought you might like it. Especially with everything that's happened lately, all of us could use something cheerful, don't you think?" 

Ciel nodded. "It's a very nice flower, Finny. How about I keep it here in my office so I can see it all day long?" he asked, smiling. He was busy, but this hadn't taken too long and it really was very sweet of him.

When Finny agreed, they cleared a spot on the desk for it. As disdainful as he was of everyone's attempts to cheer him up, Ciel had to admit that whenever the potted flower caught his eye later that day he smiled a bit.

***

The funeral was on a Sunday. It had taken four days for the results of the autopsy to come in. It didn't clear anything up for anyone, though. There were no signs of foul play, such as poison or strangulation. There was no sign of prior health conditions. It seemed that everything had been perfectly normal until his heart just stopped.

Although it was clear that there was still suspicion surrounding his name, at least there was nothing obvious that implied he had had some part in the death. He hadn't heard anything from Queen Victoria about it, so he had to assume that she felt everything was under control.

The day itself wasn't particularly suited to a funeral. The sun was shining bright in a clear blue sky. An occasional breeze kept the air comfortably cool. No thunderstorms or hailstorms set the mood. In fact, the crowd of mourners in black and the quiet crying seemed entirely out of place. This was the kind of day for late summer picnics and ferry dates, not grieving. 

Ciel had too many conflicting emotions to cry the way the rest of them were. On one hand, he had grown attached to Sebastian. It was hard not to have some level of attachment to someone that saved your life that often. They had been through so many things together, and he had been by his side for eight years. He had practically been brought up by him.

On the other hand though, he knew on a deeper level that Sebastian had only done the things he did out of hunger. There had been no love between them, and so it was hard to grieve the loss of what had never been there in the first place. He was annoyed about the loss, but he wasn't sure what his emotions were further than that.

He was just in the middle of his internal debate about exactly how sad he should or shouldn't be, when a familiar voice spoke up beside him. 

"Nice weather we're having, huh?" Lau commented, looking up at the sky. Ciel turned his head to where he stood beside him. This was the first time that he'd seen the man since they made their plans.

"I suppose. Convenient, since we have to stand around here." Ciel answered. "You're late, by the way."

"Am I?"

"Obviously. The coffin's already in the ground, you fool." he said, gesturing to where the undertaker was currently shoveling dirt into a hole. "Don't worry, you didn't miss much. The service was dreadfully boring and half the time all you could hear was people crying."

Lau looked at him curiously. "Not you though, eh earl? Stoic as always. If it wasn't for what I saw the other day at the manor, I might guess that you don't have emotions at all."

"Shut it. I'm perfectly capable of showing emotion, just because I don't around you-"

"Still, it seems odd that you aren't sad. Demon or not, he was with you for a very long time."

Ciel shrugged. "Keep your voice down, I'd rather not have to explain that to my fiancée. Also, I never said I wasn't sad. It's rather complicated, alright?"

He nodded. "I suppose it is. How is that fiancée of yours taking it, anyhow? She knew him for a long time, too."

Before Ciel could give an answer, said fiancée appeared. "It's so dreadful!" she cried, flinging herself on him in a hug. "It must be so much worse for you though. You knew him so much better than any of us. How can you bear it?!"

He gave her an awkward pat on the back before disengaging himself from the hug. "It's very sad, I know. There's nothing we can do though. We simply have to go on and-"

Lau interrupted. "He doesn't care because our earl is so heartless, isn't that right?" he teased in somewhat bad taste. Lizzy looked up at him, confused.

"Who is this? I can't recall seeing him before. Is he a friend of yours, Ciel?" she asked, wiping away her tears. Ciel and Lau answered at the same time.

"Yes, we're very close-"

"No, he's just a business partner-"

Lizzy looked slightly confused, but brushed it off. For the first time all day, she smiled. "Either way, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Elizabeth Midford, Ciel's fiancée. What's your name?"

Lau smiled and Ciel groaned. This was not a friendship he needed on his hands. However, a part of him was glad that something had cheered her up. She always loved making new friends.

"My name is Lau."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lau."

"Please, just call me Lau. The pleasure is mine. After all, Ciel has told me sooo much about you."

He smirked at the glare Ciel sent him. Before he could continue with whatever was up his sleeve though, Lizzy broke in. "Well, I'd love to spend lots of time getting to know you. Perhaps we could talk about that over tea? Never the less though, I think we need to get some things out of the way. Ciel is facing something very difficult right now, and I think you should be supporting him as his friend, not teasing him as his enemy. So no more about him being heartless, okay? Can you do that for me?" she asked sharply.

Lau was clearly entertained. He nodded and made a little bow. "Anything for you, my lady." he answered. Ciel rolled his eyes but Lizzy seemed mollified.

"Right, well, you two can have tea some other time to talk about whatever I've apparently said about you. Lizzy, don't believe anything he says. Let's go now, the funeral's over and it's starting to get cold. No sense standing around." Ciel suggested. The other two agreed, and followed him to the carriage. Soon Prince Soma joined them, and they headed home.

***

He was in the cage again. Everything was so familiar, he knew exactly what to expect. He had had this dream almost every night for years, after all. First, he would be in the cage, calling for help. He would be there for a few minutes until his calls were finally answered by Sebastian's familiar voice.

Next, Sebastian would offer a contract. They'd go through the usual song and dance of what making a contract involved. Eventually, everything would be decided, and the contract would be made.

Finally, he would look at Sebastian's shadowy form, grinning at him in the darkness. The darkness would begin to swirl until he was drowning in it. Just when he'd think that this was the end, that he would suffocate or be consumed by it, he would wake up. Sweating, he would take a few minutes to calm his breathing before heading back to sleep.

This dream had practically become a part of his nightly routine. However, tonight something seemed off. He had been in the cage far too long, and Sebastian still hadn't answered his cries. It wasn't like him to keep him waiting.

At first, Ciel was angry. This wasn't how the dream was supposed to go. It was entirely off the plan. Things weren't supposed to go off the plan, especially not in his own dream.

When the minutes dragged on, more children were pulled from the cages to the alter in the center of the room. He didn't feel angry anymore. Instead, he felt helpless. There was no one to save him, and without Sebastian he couldn't even save himself.

Soon, he was the only one left in the cage. By now, he had lost any control over himself. He felt like the child he had been. He could barely even remember that it was just a dream. His mouth was dry and his heart was pounding.

"Get up, you brat." a strange man spat, pulling him out by the arm. He didn't have any willpower left to fight. He simply let himself be manhandled. 

Time seemed to speed up, and before he knew it he was laid out on the alter surrounded by masked faces. He was about to squeeze his eyes shut when he saw that one face in the crowd wore no mask. It was a familiar face, too. It was the face of a demon. It was the face of Sebastian. 

He opened his mouth to call for him, to ask for help, anything. However, before any sound could get out, Sebastian's figure started to fade. With one last sly smile, he disappeared. Ciel was completely alone.

"Stop! Come back-" he started to choke out. However, he was cut off by the knife thrust into his chest. Everything went dark.

He had the sudden sensation of sinking. Opening his eyes, he saw he was underwater. It was only in this moment that he realized he couldn't breath. As he took a frantic breath, his lungs filled with water.

A second later though, he was dry. Now, he was lying on what seemed to be a pile of black feathers. Then, to his horror, he realized that the pile was moving. Before his eyes, the feathers broke apart into millions of tiny black beetles. As they swarmed over him, he began to shriek. 

It was then that he woke up, safe in his own bed. Untangling himself from the bedsheets, he looked out at the dark room. Something seemed wrong, more than just the change of dream. Suddenly, he realized what it was. This was the first time in eight years that Sebastian hadn't come when he screamed in the night. For the first time, he was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still fairly new to writing, so if you have thoughts or tips, feel free to leave them in the comments!


	3. The stakeout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ciel is caught in a downpour, among other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some gore and violence in this chapter, be warned. Also a certain degree of moral ambiguity but hey, that's kind of the show.

Surprisingly enough, Lau showed up on time. Ciel's servants had just finished clearing away the dinner dishes when he made his usual dramatic entrance, bursting through the door. As he exclaimed a loud "Hi, lord earl!", Ciel groaned. Already he was having second thoughts about working with him.

As annoying as he could be though, Ciel knew that Lau was useful. Besides, he wasn't the most annoying person he knew. In some moments, he could even make for entertaining company. Not only that, but he never made any idiotic puns about being a hell of a butler. That had to count for something.

"You're on time. That's surprising." he commented. 

Lau faked a look of hurt. "Of course I am! Did you expect anything else? You wound me, really you do."

Ciel sighed. "I know you couldn't care less, stop pretending."

He smiled benignly before sitting down at the table. "Don't bother." Ciel said. "We're leaving now anyways. Do you have a carriage with you or shall we take mine?"

Lau ignored him. "Is your fiancée around? I wanted to see her, I think we could become quite good friends."

Ciel had a sudden mental picture of Lau and Lizzy as a team, trying to drag him to parties and force him into cute outfits. With a shudder, he shook his head. "No, she's not here right now. Besides, that's the last thing I need. I can't stop you two from being friends, but I'm not going to help it happen."

"Aw, that's too bad. We might as well go, then. To answer your question, we can take my carriage. Ran Mao can drive, she knows the way." he answered, getting up from the table.

"So you were listening." Ciel muttered, following him out.

It was starting to drizzle outside and the skies were overcast, making the dusk seem even darker. He grimaced when his foot got stuck in a patch of mud. If Sebastian had been here, he could have cleaned off his heel in seconds. As it was, he was stuck looking dirty and undignified. He had a feeling that life without Sebastian would cause more than one blow to his pride.

Lau's carriage wasn't much different from Ciel's own. It was a fairly standard design. They each sat on one side. As it began to move, Ciel turned to look out the window. However, unfortunately for him, Lau seemed to want to talk.

"So, how have you been doing without your butler? You relied on him so much for everything, I can imagine you feel completely helpless with him gone, huh?"

Ciel glowered. "I didn't rely on him for everything, thank you very much. He was simply helpful. I'm managing fine."

"You don't have to hide it from me." he teased.

"I'm not hiding anything!"

"It might help you to talk about it."

"It might help you to shut up. Besides, the last person I want advice from is someone with your, ahem, business." 

"What's wrong with my business?"

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "You mean other than the legal factor?"

"I'm fairly sure you've done a few illegal thing in your time too, earl."

He had a point. Ciel's work wasn't much less dubious than Lau's. At least, probably not. He wasn't actually that sure what Lau had done in the name of business. 

"Fine. At least I'm under the queen's orders. That's more than I can say for you."

Lau quirked an eyebrow. "So, you think that a queen's orders is what makes the difference between moral and immoral? An interesting theory. At least my business helps others. Some people need an escape like that which I sell them. Some might even say that I saved their lives."

"That's all a matter of perspective and you know it, Lau. I could just as easily say that when I have a criminal killed, I'm providing them an escape. Besides, don't pretend you haven't caused anyone any sort of harm in your life. I'm sure you've done any number of violent things." he retorted.

Lau narrowed his eyes in the gloom. "Why is it you never ask about it then, huh earl?"

He shrugged. "Frankly, I don't care. As long as you remain loyal to me, you can do whatever you like. It's sort of a don't ask, don't tell policy."

Lau laughed twice. "What a shame. I thought we were going to share. It could have been a bonding moment. Oh well, I suppose it can't be helped. It looks like we're here, anyhow." 

Ciel had forgotten to look out the window. Now, he looked out to scan the surroundings. However, he wasn't able to see much through what had escalated from a light drizzle to a complete downpour. It was coming down in sheets. Once again, Ciel grimaced. "We have to wait in this?" he asked.

"It seems that way, yes. Don't tell me you earls can't take a little rain?" Lau teased.

"I'd hardly call this a little." Ciel grumbled, ducking out of the carriage to stand on the cobblestones below.

Lau followed him out. "Perhaps you're just worried you'll drown. Understandable, you're so short after all. You really haven't grown much in all this time, have you?"

Ciel ignored the ribbing in favor of getting a better look at the area. It was still hard to see through the rain, but not having to look through a window helped. They appeared to be on a street a few feet away from some sort of docks. They weren't familiar to him, but he had to assume they were Lau's. He hoped that Lau had somewhere dry for them to wait for this mysterious ex customer. He was already soaked to the skin, and shivering from the cold. It was the worst night they could have chosen for a stakeout.

He turned around when he heard the carriage leaving behind him. "We can't have Ran Mao waiting for us, it might seem suspicious." he explained. "I don't live far from here though, so it won't be a long walk back when we're done."

Ciel nodded. "Right. So, where are we planning on waiting?" he asked.

Lau didn't answer. Instead, he gestured for Ciel to follow him before taking off in the direction of the wood planks of the docks. Ciel went after him, arms crossed and scowling. "It wouldn't hurt you to smile once and awhile." Lau called over his shoulder.

"It wouldn't hurt you to be quite and mind your own business once and awhile." Ciel muttered under his breath.

Despite being as fully grown as he was going to get, Ciel was still quite short. As a result, he had to speed walk to keep up with Lau's pace. When Lau stopped suddenly, Ciel ran right into him.

For once, Lau didn't have a sarcastic comment up his sleeve. Ciel was pretty sure he saw him smirk a bit, but it was hard to tell through the rain.

"Why are we stopping?" he asked. 

"This is where we wait."

"Just...here?" Ciel asked sceptically. Lau shook his head before pulling him behind a wall of crates. "No, here."

Ciel looked around. It had looked as though the crates were stacked against a wall, but actually they covered a wide doorway. It made a perfect little hideout. No one would know they were there, but they could see and hear anything taking place outside. Best of all, it was dry.

"It'll do, I suppose." Ciel commented begrudgingly once he finished inspecting it. "It's rather dirty though."

"Would you rather be out in the rain?"

Ciel shot him a look before sliding down to sit cross legged by the edge of the crate, keeping watch. He heard a shuffle behind him before Lau sat down beside him.

They sat in silence for about fifteen minutes before Lau broke it. "I'm bored." he whined.

"Shouldn't we be quiet, if we're already going through this much trouble to be secretive? Wait, why are we going through this much trouble to be secretive? Sending Ran Mao away, hiding out like this. I thought we just wanted to ask this guy some questions?" Ciel asked suddenly.

Lau fidgeted a bit, increasing Ciel's suspicions. "Eh, well. We had a bit of a fallout, he probably doesn't want to see me, so it would be best if we caught him by surprise. You know what I'm saying, earl?"

Ciel narrowed his eyes. Every time Lau was involved, it had to be complicated. The man was such a nuisance. "What do you mean by fallout?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just one of those things, you know how it is-"

"Stop avoiding the question. I need to know exactly what we're getting into. What was the fallout?" he snapped. Lau sighed.

"Well, there was a period of time after he told me about the fire, but before we lost contact. I saw him quite frequently and he was what one might call attractive-"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ciel broke in.

Lau ignored him. "-so, we may or may not have had a brief affair. Don't look at me like that, he had nice hair! Anyhow, he seemed to think that he would get some sort of discount from me because he was good in bed. He was sorely mistaken. Pretty he may have been, but his temper was awful. Worse than yours, if you'd believe it. He tried to threaten me until I had him thrown out. The last time I saw him he was on the street, cursing my name. When he got a job on my docks though, I didn't object. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, that's what they say after all."

Ciel shook his head in confusion. "Wait, but he was a man? What do you mean, you had an affair with him?"

"What do you mean by what do I mean?"

Ciel stuttered. "Well, I mean he's a man. How does that even work? Besides, what about your girls? You've always seemed pretty interested in them. Not that I was paying attention, but you've never been exactly subtle.

When Lau leered at him, he suddenly regretted asking the first question. Maybe he didn't want to know how that worked.

"You don't know how that works? Don't they teach you noblemen anything? Really, I thought you'd grown up, but it seems not. Still a child, huh earl?"

"I'm not a child-" he started, but was interrupted.

"You want me to explain 'how it works', as you say? How detailed an explanation do you want?" he teased with a glint in his eye.

"No, I'm really fine without the explanation!" Ciel squeaked out. 

"But you said-"

"Quite sure!"

Ciel looked away determinedly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lau shaking. To his annoyance, he saw that he was laughing hysterically behind his hand. He elbowed him as hard as he could.

Once Lau could breathe without another fit of giggles, he addressed Ciel's second question. "Trust me, I enjoy the company of my girls too. I'm not picky. If someone has a nice face, who am I to turn them down?"

Ciel shrugged. "Fair enough. I suppose I'm not really surprised, you being you and all."

There was a moment of silence between them before Ciel shuddered violently. They were out of the rain, but the air was still cold and damp. Besides, his clothes were soaking wet.

Lau glanced at him, looking slightly concerned. "Cold?" he asked. 

Ciel made a noise that could be translated as something along the lines of "Well duh."

However, when he shivered again, combined with a fit of coughing, Lau wrapped his arm around him and pulled him closer. Ciel growled and squirmed out of his grip. "Just what do you think you're doing?!" he spluttered.

"Relax. I can't have you dying, can I? Stop being so proud and keep warm, lord earl." he answered. He kept his arm outstretched, giving Ciel the opportunity to come back.

Ciel considered the situation. On one hand, he wasn't sure he wanted to put that much trust in the foreign drug lord's hands. On the other hand, he was freezing and the last thing he wanted was for his asthma to come back. Especially not here and now. 

Deciding that no one was watching and at most he'd get some teasing from Lau, he shuffled back into place. Not without a scowl though.

Smirking like the annoyance he was, Lau wrapped his arm around Ciel's shoulders again, holding him in place.

Although his changshan was equally wet, the shared body heat counted for something. After a few minutes, Ciel had no desire whatsoever to move. It was oddly comfortable as well as warm. Swallowing his pride, he leaned his head against Lau's shoulder. "You better be keeping watch." he muttered. 

Lau hummed in assent. They sat like that for awhile longer. It was hard to tell exactly how much time had passed. Suddenly though, Lau nudged him. Ciel had been half asleep at that point, but in seconds he was fully alert. "What's happening?" he whispered.

"Someone's coming." he whispered back. Ciel sat up straight and peered around the crate.

There was a figure approaching in the rain, several packages in his arms. It was hard to see much of anything. Not that it really mattered, since he didn't know what the guy was supposed to look like anyways.

"Is it him?" Ciel asked when the person was close enough to see. Lau nodded.

"I think so. Let me start this, okay? Just follow me." he whispered back. Ciel wanted to argue but there wasn't much time. In a moment, the guy would be passing them. Lau had stood up, and was now crouching, ready to make whatever move he was planning to make. 

"What are you going to do?" he asked, but Lau didn't answer. Instead, he leapt out from behind the crates with a speed that was slightly unnatural. Ciel was quick to follow. 

By the time he was out of the hidden doorway, Lau already had a knife to the person's throat. "This is our guy." he said cheerfully. Ciel raised his eyebrows at his tone. He hadn't seen the knife before. It must have been concealed in Lau's sleeve.

Their guy, as Lau called him, had soft curling brown hair, blue eyes, and a square jaw. Ciel wasn't generally a good judge of these things, but he could tell that he was at least generically handsome. He had probably been even more attractive eight years ago.

He seemed to realize that struggling was futile, and resorted to talking himself out of the situation. "Lau? Good to see you again. What, erm, brings you here? Also, who's the rich pretty boy?" he started off.

"I'm not pretty!" Ciel exclaimed.

"We just need to ask you a few questions." Lau said, still oddly cheerful. "And the pretty boy's none of your business."

"Hey, ask me anything. You're an old friend after all." he answered. He didn't sound nervous anymore. If anything, he sounded flirtatious. Ciel raised his eyebrows. He didn't seem to be holding any sort of grudge.

"Remember the man who made the contract with you, to burn the manor? Do you remember the name of the family who owned it?" he asked.

"Sure do, but do you think we could do this without the knife? Not that I don't like the position and all, but I was never that into knifeplay. I guess I'm just not as kinky as you. Oh well."

Lau ignored his playing. "No, I don't think we can. What was the family?"

"If I recall correctly, it was the Phantomhive family."

Ciel sucked in a breath. Lau glanced at him. Ciel nodded. It was his turn to ask questions.

He walked closer to where the two of them stood. "What can you tell me about the people who made the contract with you? Tell me everything, or his hand might just slip."

Their captive shrugged. "Not much I can tell you, to be honest. When I first met him, he wore a mask. I'm sure Lau already told you how we met. I didn't have much of a choice but to take the contract, so I did. After that, I was given my instructions by letter."

"Do you still have the letter?" he questioned excitedly. However, his face fell when the brunette shook his head. 

"No, I was instructed to burn it after memorizing it's contents."

"How did you get the letter?" Lau asked from behind him.

"The masked man told me to take it from an urn, in the garden of house fifty seven of cardinal street, at midnight on the eighth. I went there just like he told me, and there it was. That's about all I know."

Ciel nodded to himself. They could use this. They would check out the garden next. He decided he was done with their witness. Something about him just irked him.

"So you never considered choosing the gallows over killing an innocent family?" he asked, teeth gritted.

"Honestly, no. There must have been some reason that someone wanted the family dead, right? Wasn't my business. I just did the job. It was good money, and he would have found someone else to do it if I refused."

Ciel nodded before turning to Lau. "That's all I need to know. We don't want him running his mouth around town, so do what has to be done."

Lau nodded, lipped curved into a slight smile. Before the man could protest, he jerked his arm. There was a moment where nothing happened, before bloods began to pour. It ran out of the gash in his throat like a red waterfall to slick his shirtfront. Lau stepped back, and without the support the dying man fell to his knees. The blood swirled with the rain on the wooden planks.

In his last moment of consciousness, he reached out in Ciel's direction, perhaps for help. Ciel only sneered at him. Killing the man that set the fire was at least one step toward his revenge, and nothing was more satisfying than watching him bleed out on the ground. He was finally getting the execution that he'd avoided for so long. Ciel watched him die with relish.

He realized that he had never learned his name. He also realized that he didn't care. He could die nameless. 

Lau broke his train of thought. "We should clean this up. I don't want the yard asking questions at my doorstep."

"Right, of course. The rain will take care of the blood. How do you propose we dispose of the body?"

"We can sink him in the water. There are bricks nearby. We can tie them to the body to weight it." he suggested.

Lau disappeared for a moment. Ciel felt slightly nervous about being the only guard of the body, but Lau returned moments later with an armful of bricks and string.

He showed him how to tie them on. Ciel decided not to ask why he was so good at this. Once it was ready, the pushed the body into the water. Ciel watched as it sank.

Lau waited patiently, giving him a moment. Eventually, he spoke up. "Shall we go home, earl?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe Lau's outfit is called a changshan, but if I'm wrong feel free to correct me. Anyhow, thanks for reading and supporting my mediocre content. It means a lot. Also, I'll try to post about twice weekly.
> 
> Edit: Just for the record, being Victorian times, Ciel is written here as being fairly oblivious to homosexuality as a concept. This reflects on the time period as opposed to his character.


	4. A sleepover of a sort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ciel has nightmares, but doesn't wake up alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I'm sorry this is so late! I've been really sick this week. Anyways, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it, and thank you so much for reading.

"I'd really rather stay at the manor." Ciel said with a sigh, taking off his rain soaked overcoat. His comment was mainly due to the fact that Lau's current place of residence was actually just a room in the back of his opium den. Just walking through the door, he had seen at least two known criminals. 

Since he wasn't under any direct orders from the queen, he didn't plan to make any arrests. It was better not to flaunt his face in a place like this anyways. He could protect himself without Sebastian, but he didn't have a death wish. The people here who would probably want him dead by far outnumbered him and Lau.

They had managed to slip past the crowd to Lau's quarters relatively unnoticed. The room itself wasn't terrible, but all circumstances considered, he would have rather spent the night in his own home.

"Is spending time with me really so terrible? Honestly earl, I do so much for you and this is what I get? It's always insults from you. I don't know why I bother."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Shut it. It's not my fault you don't have a decent place to stay."

"I think it's quite nice here." he whined.

"I can smell the opium, as well as who knows what else."

"Hmm, I've never noticed before."

"Probably because you smoke the opium just like them?"

Before they could continue, Ran Mao popped her head in. "You're back." she said in a flat voice.

Lau went over to sling an arm around her. He proceeded to poke her cheeks a few times. Ciel looked at him with disdain. When he appeared to have gotten his fill of cheek poking, he asked her to fetch some dry clothes for the both of them. She nodded before quietly disappearing.

Ciel looked around the room. It was ornately decorated with traditional Chinese art and furniture. The bed was similar to the canopy bed Ciel himself owned, but instead on curtains, there was a carved wooden roof to it. The roof was suspended by equally carved wooden columns. It seemed fitting with Lau's personality. Fascinating, yet slightly gaudy.

"Do you have another bedroom for me to sleep in, then?" Ciel asked, noting the lack of extra beds. 

"Nope. Just this one." Lau answered cheerfully. Ciel groaned. Sharing a bed wouldn't kill him, but he liked his personal space. Especially when it came to Lau.

"You don't have a mattress I could sleep on, on the floor?" he tried again. 

Lau just smiled. "Nope. I guess we'll just have to share, huh earl?"

Ciel dealt with the five stages of grief in that moment. First, denial. There had to be some other option. When he gave up on that idea, he switched to anger. If he was in his own home, not stuck with this idiot, this wouldn't be happening! Next came bargaining. He could arrange for Ran Mao to take him home, or something of the sort. However, he glanced at a clock and ruled that idea out. It was a long trip home. Besides, he needed to discuss their next step with Lau. He had a moment of depression. Things were bleak. Finally, he arrived upon acceptance. There was no getting out of this. He might as well make the best of it.

By the time he had finished this internal journey, Ran Mao had returned with the clothes. Ciel took the pile handed to him, and headed behind a small screen in the corner to change.

To his immense surprise, the clothing he was given was not ridiculous or revealing. It was some sort of robe, probably belonging to Lau. It was much too big for him, but at least it wasn't a girls dress. He had half been expecting that. It wasn't even a strange colour, just a light blue similar to the shade of his eyes. 

Peeling off the wet layers that he was currently wearing, he wondered what Lau wore to bed. Presumably something different from his everyday clothes? Well, he supposed he'd find out in a moment. 

The silky material wasn't particularly warm, but it was a relief after his icy clothes. However, it was big enough on him that he had to lift it when he walked to keep it from dragging on the ground.

"I'm done, you can change now." he said, walking out from behind the screen. Apparently this wasn't needed though, as Lau was in the middle of pulling off his shirt. At Ciel's voice he turned around. As a result, he was confronted with an excellent view of everything above the belt on the man, leaving nothing to the imagination. 

Ciel coughed and looked away. "Or you can start changing there. Erm, let me know when you're done." he choked out, averting his eyes. As he stared at a painting of a flower with determination, who could hear Lau snickering behind him as he shucked off wet clothing. 

The thought crossed his mind that Lau had a good body. For a man, that was. Not that he noticed these things. Never the less, he could recognize what was right in front of him, and Lau's smooth skin and hard muscles had aesthetic appeal if nothing else. Anyone could recognize that. Under his breath, Ciel damned his invasive thoughts.

"Are you done yet?" he asked over his shoulder. When Lau hummed in assent, he turned around. 

Lau was wearing a robe similar to the one Ciel wore himself. This one was in a darker shade of teal though. Ciel absentmindedly wondered if he particularly liked that colour. He seemed to wear it often.

"It's quite late, but I think we should do some more planning before going to sleep." Ciel suggested. 

"How very wise of you, lord earl. One track mind, as always. It works for me anyhow, what do you want to plan?"

"Ideally, catching the people behind my parent's murders." Ciel deadpanned.

"Ah, that. Of course. So, I take it we got enough information for a new lead?" Lau asked lightly.

Ciel sat down on the edge of the bed. "Yes, I think so. Our next step is to investigate the garden he spoke of. Perhaps the owners can tell us something. It's not much, but it's a start."

"Do you plan on knocking on the front door, or will there be a little late night snooping involved in this investigation?" Lau asked, sitting down beside him.

He thought for a moment. "Why not both? Snoop a bit, then ask at the front door. That way we don't miss anything."

"I suppose this is to be another midnight adventure then, huh? What day then?"

He had waited eight years easily, but now that things seemed to actually be going somewhere, he felt as if he couldn't wait another minute. "I need to attend to my business at the manor tomorrow, but I want to do thus as soon as possible. Can you do the night after that?"

Lau shrugged. "Anything for you, earl. I'll check out the address in advance tomorrow, as well."

Ciel felt a surprising surge of gratitude. If it wasn't for Lau, he would never have gotten this far. However, he didn't have time for mushy feelings, and frankly they disgusted him, so he pushed it down.

"Right, that's a good plan. I appreciate it."

"Why, that's a surprise."

Ciel hummed in response. Before he could think of anything further to plan, a wave of exhaustion hit him. Against his will, he yawned. 

Lau smirked. "Against your bedtime, is it?" he teased. Ciel silenced him with a glare. "I'm eighteen Lau, I'm not a child. Don't treat me like one."

Ciel had been expecting some whining or another teasing comment. What he was not expecting was for Lau to blatantly look him up and down before saying "No, you certainly aren't."

He willed himself to stop blushing before Lau brought it up. Although Lau had behaved in a somewhat flirtatious manner before, it had never been quite that open before. Ciel wasn't quite sure what to say in response to it. After a moment of silence, he coughed. "Either way, it is quite late. You can do as you like, but I'm getting some sleep. I have work to do tomorrow."

Not checking to see what Lau was doing, he pulled up the edge of the sheets to slide underneath them. He untied his eyepatch and closed his eyes. The last thing he processed before falling asleep was the dip of the mattress as Lau lay down on the other side of the bed.

However, a deep and restful sleep wasn't something he was going to get. Instead, he was plunged into another nightmare.

In the dream, he was in a small cabin. It was completely devoid of all furniture. The only presence on the bare floor was two figures on their knees, burlap sacks tied over their heads. They were sitting up straight, so although they didn't struggle Ciel had to assume they were alive.

From what he could see, they were an aristocratic man and woman, maybe in their early thirties. It was hard for him to think much further than that though. The dream gave his thoughts a hazy quality.

Suddenly, he heard a sound behind him. He wasn't alone in the room. He spun around, and came face to face with a man in a mask. He barely noticed anything else about the man's appearance, as the mask was so commanding of attention.

It had a long hooked beak, like the kind medical men used to wear. However, instead of being a simple black like the traditional style, it featured ornate swirling designs of gold and silver. There were little gems embedded around the eye holes. It's gaudy style seemed odd in the bare wooden room.

"Who are you?" he challenged, voice shaking slightly despite himself.

Instead of answering, the figure handed him a scrap of paper. Nervously, he unfolded it. On it, a messy scrawl read One life that's your own, or two that are not. You must choose who leaves alive, out of those I have brought. 

He looked up in confusion. "What happens if I don't choose?" he asked. The figure remained silent, watching him through the holes of the mask.

Deciding that there was no immediate time limit, he explored his options. There was no door or window in the room, so that ruled out voluntary escape. There was always waking up, but who knew how long that would take. So far, it seemed like the best bet was letting the dream strangers die, escaping, and hopefully waking up.

He went back to stand in front of the masked figure. "I choose to be the one who leaves alive." he said, chin up and voice clear. The figure nodded.

The figure nodded. Ciel watched as he slit the throats of the two hidden strangers. They slumped over and bled out on the ground. They didn't even struggle. 

"Can I go now?" Ciel asked indifferently. Instead of answering, the masked man reached down and pulled the burlap sacks off the heads of both the corpses at the same time. There was a flash of blonde and black hair. He almost wrote it off, but something about the style looked familiar.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of dread. He swallowed dryly before going closer. Gently, he lifted up the head of the woman to see her face. Instead of a stranger, he was confronted with the face of his dead mother. 

He jerked, dropping her head with to the ground with a thump. He already knew who the other body was, but he needed to see for himself. It was just as he thought, though. They were his parents and he let them die.

Before he could react further, the room filled with flames, with the unnatural speed of a dream. He watched, wide eyed, as his parents burned. He turned to look around the room, but the masked man was gone. All that was left was the flames. 

They didn't burn him, but he could feel the oxygen leaving the room. Breathing got harder and harder. Soon, he was gasping in the smoke. Suddenly, there was nothing left to breathe at all. It was like he was drowning, but he was perfectly dry. His vision blurred and the room began to spin. When he felt he couldn't bear it anymore, his vision went dark.

He woke up with a gasp. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't his vision that was dark, it was the room. Quickly, he remembered where he was.

Breathing still labored, he sat up letting the sheets pool around his waist. He wiped the sweat off his forehead before hearing a voice beside him that made him jump. 

"Bad dreams?" Lau asked. Ciel turned his head to look at the man. He still had his head on the pillow, but he was looking up at him curiously. 

"How did you know?" he returned, not answering the question. 

"You were tossing and turning. Making some noises too. I suppose that could be due to a good dream too, though."

Ciel was confused. "Why would I make noise over a good dream?"

Lau raised his eyebrows and smirked. There was a moment of silence before Ciel understood. "Shut up, I'm not like that." he hissed, throwing his pillow at him. 

Lau laughed softly. "Like what?"

"Like you." 

He continued to laugh as Ciel looked at him with irritation. After a moment, he was serious again. "Don't worry, I have them too. Bad dreams, I mean."

"What do you dream about?" Ciel wondered out loud.

"You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine." he answered.

Ciel almost considered it for a moment, but he couldn't bring himself to talk about it quite yet. Not like this, not in the dark. "Maybe another time." he finally said. "For now, I should try sleeping again. You should too."

Lau agreed, although reluctantly. They settled back down, and soon the room was silent again.

***

Ciel was rudely woken up after being hit in the face with an arm. Barely processing what was going on, he turned towards the source, ready to fight. When Lau saw his furious face, he just shrugged. "Sorry, lord earl. I was just stretching. Guess I forgot you were there, huh?"

Ciel was not willing to dignify this with a response. Instead, he dragged himself out of bed, grumbling all the way.

"Are your clothes dry yet?" Lau asked, still in bed. 

Apparently someone had hung them over the edge of the screen to dry. Ciel felt them, and came to the verdict that they were wearable. He took them behind the screen to change into. 

"Is Ran Mao going to take me back to the manor?" he called out.

"No, I think I'll make you walk."

Ciel stuck his head out from behind the screen. "Lau, what the hell-"

Lau just smiled. "Kidding, earl. She'll take you when you're ready.

Just as he finished getting dressed, Ran Mao entered the room. She seemed to have an oddly good sense of timing. She seemed to have an oddly good sense of a lot of things, actually. Ciel started to wonder about exactly who she was, before remembering that he didn't really want to wonder anything about Lau and his associates.

Not exactly having a fond farewell sort of relationship with Lau, he just gave a "See you in two days then." as he left. Lau, still lounging in bed, nodded in acknowledgment.

Not having Sebastian made carriage rides significantly more boring, but significantly less annoying. There were pros and cons to everything after all. As he watched the world pass by his window, he briefly wondered what happened to demons when they died. Was there an afterlife? An after afterlife? A second hell? Or was it like Hamlet predicted, the rest being darkness?

Ciel enjoyed Shakespeare. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy light reading. He loved Arthur's mysteries after all. Still, every once and a while, a Shakespearian tragedy was just what he was in the mood for. They had enough drama to keep him on his toes, and everyone died due to their own stupidity. Nothing entertained him more. Besides, if he quoted them in social situations everyone decided he was educated and intelligent. He was anyways, of course, but this gave him the opportunity to rub it in their faces.

His musing of Sebastian's fate and his own use of literature to appear intellectually superior was in depth enough to last the entire ride home. By the time he walked in the manor doors, he was looking forward to a quiet lunch and some time to get his work done in the afternoon.

As usual though, things didn't go as planned. He felt a sense of dread the second Tanaka gave him a sympathetic look and said "You have visitors, my lord."

Sighing, he opened the door to the dining room. He was greeted with the sight of Sieglinde explaining the mechanics of short metal rod to an entranced Lizzy. Prince Soma sat slouched over the table. The words "I'm bored" seemed to be seconds from leaving his lips. 

Upon closer inspection of the room, Agni was in the back corner, ready to entertain his prince the moment it was needed, and Sieglinde was wearing all pink. Ciel did a double take at that.

"-so you heat it up, and it will make curling your hair that much faster!" she finished.

"Oh, it's wonderful! Those rags get so tiring to wear every night, this is such a lifesaver. You don't curl your hair though, what made you think to invent it?" Lizzy asked, curious.

To Ciel's surprise, Sieglinde blushed. He didn't think he'd ever seen her blush. "Well, I thought you might like it." she answered shyly. Ciel raised his eyebrows.

"Is anyone going to explain the pink? You never wear pink." he interrupted from the doorway.

The other three jumped at his voice. "Ciel, you're back!" Soma cried, flinging himself on Ciel in a hug. Ciel squirmed. At the age of twenty two, Soma continued to have the emotional age of a pre teen. Ciel had to wonder how long it would last. Would he be like this at sixty? He shuddered. 

Lizzy refrained from hugging him, but she still grinned at him cheerfully. "I was just dressing her up, doesn't she look cute?" she answered. 

"I guess?"

Lizzy looked disappointed but Sieglinde patted her arm. "He's just jealous that he doesn't look this good." she said with a smirk. Ciel sighed. He was outnumbered. "Fine, you look cute."

Lizzy squealed with happiness before suddenly being serious. "We came to visit you this morning but you were out. Why were you out so early?" she asked.

Ciel wracked his brains for an excuse. "Uhm, I felt like a walk?"

Sieglinde looked at him suspiciously. "You never walk if you can avoid it." she pointed out.

"Hey! I walk sometimes. More than you."

"I can't walk!"

Prince Soma came to his rescue. "Aw, look. Ciel's trying to improve his ways. First he's going on walks, next he'll stop being so grouchy all the time! This is wonderful!" he exclaimed, ruffling Ciel's hair.

Despite the unnecessary hair touching, Soma's excuse helped, so he pushed down an urges to throw a punch. Lizzy and Sieglinde were nodding.

"Fair enough." Sieglinde said with an evil grin. "Either way, it's your turn for a makeover."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of having Sieglinde/Lizzy as a minor relationship in this fic. I also headcanon Lizzy as aro ace in some writing, but why not switch it up a bit. Also, if anything bad happens to main characters in the future canon of kuro, this fic is pretending it didn't happen. Anyways, if you're reading, love you. If you leave kudos, extra love. If you leave comments, you're an actual angel!!


	5. The investigation continues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ciel takes a swim and Lau makes himself useful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some warnings for this chapter include someone getting drugged and passing out. It's harmless, but if that would bother you, here's your warning.

The first words out of Ciel's mouth when Lau walked in the door were "You're late."

To add drama, he took a long sip of tea while glaring at him over the rim of his teacup. Lau raised his eyebrows. "Technically, you never gave me a specific time to come, so I can't be late. I wonder though earl, did you do that intentionally so you could complain whatever time I showed up?"

Ciel huffed. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm sure I told you to be here for six pm."

"I'm sure you didn't."

"I'm sure you're wrong."

"I'm sure you know I'm right."

Tanaka interrupted from the sidelines. "I'm sure you gentlemen have places to go and things to do. Perhaps you should get going, my lord?" he suggested.

Ciel nodded. It wasn't the time for petty squabbles. "Come on then, lets go. Did you check out the address?"

"Of course, how could I disobey an order from you, lord earl?"

Ciel rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you would quite easily. Ignoring that, what did you find? Anything of note?"

It was fast, Ciel would have missed it if he blinked. As it was, he didn't blink, and he didn't miss it. When he accused Lau of being willing to betray him, something dark flashed behind the man's eyes. It looked as if the accusation pained him, oddly enough. Before he could analyse it further though, he had schooled his expression back to it's usual smile. They needed to get a move on, but he stored this in his memory to think on further at a later time. It seemed relevant, somehow.

"Nothing distinctive. It seems to be a regular house, owned by someone of average wealth. Their back garden is rather overgrown, but I couldn't find out much more than that in broad daylight." he said. His voice showed no signs of the emotion Ciel had seen.

"Fine. Lets go then. Your carriage?" he asked. Lau nodded. As they walked out, Ciel heard him mutter something.

"What was that?" he asked. 

"Nothing, nothing. Just commenting on how grateful you are, as ever." he answered lightly, but there was something else in the tone. Something that didn't seem light. It irked Ciel.

"If you don't want to help me, you don't have to. I have enough information to take this investigation from here." he snapped back.

"And let you get yourself killed? I think I'll stick around."

"I can take care of myself!" Ciel growled threateningly. 

Lau put up his hands in surrender. "Alright, you can take care of yourself. I'm still helping though. Spending time with you is much more entertaining than my usual Friday nights. Although, if you ever change your mind about letting me take care of you..." he dropped the sentence with a suggestive wink.

Ciel shook his head in confusion. The atmosphere of the conversation seemed to be changing very rapidly tonight. "I don't even want to know what your usual Friday nights involve, and what do you mean by that wink? I hardly understand where that fits into the context of this."

There was a pause in the conversation as they got into the carriage. They sat down on opposite sides. When it started to move, Lau answered him.

"Well, my upcoming Friday night involves dinner at your fiancée's house, and the wink is due to a sexual innuendo."

"Wait what?"

"A sexual innuendo is when-"

Ciel blushed. "Not that, I know what it means! And we're ignoring why you'd use one on me! What we're focusing on is the fact that you're having dinner with the Midfords!"

Lau looked confused. "The whos?"

Ciel sighed in frustration. "Lizzy's family. Why are you having dinner with them. Have you even met any of them?"

"I've met Lizzy." he answered cheerfully. Ciel gave him one of his patented glares.

"Obviously. I mean, have you met any of the others?"

"What others?" he teased, lips curled in a smile.

Ciel kicked his shins from across the carriage. "The other family members, you fool. Have you met them? If not, you have no idea what you're getting into. Also, you still haven't answered why you're eating with them in the first place."

"I haven't met her family, no. Surely they can't be that bad though. Either way, I'm eating dinner with her because apparently she told her parents that she made a new friend, and they want to meet me. Word is, they're inviting you too. It'll be fun, won't it?"

Ciel briefly imagined Francis Midford meeting Lau. Against his will, he chuckled. As the scenario grew more detailed in his head, he began to giggle increasingly louder. Lau watched with mild concern as the earl descended into fits of hysterical laughter.

"I have to say," he started, wiping away a tear, "this is something I'm looking foreword to."

"Hey, what's so funny? I don't think I've ever seen you laugh like this." Lau asked as he continued to chuckle.

A plan started to hatch in Ciel's brain. He could get something out of this. "How about we make a wager over this dinner party, hmm? You're not opposed to a little gamble, are you?"

Lau nodded, interested. "What are we betting on, and what are the stakes?" he asked, leaning forward. 

Ciel considered for a moment. "If Francis-"

"Who?"

"Lizzy's mother. If Francis approves of you by the end of the night, you win. If she doesn't, I win. Deal?"

Lau shook his hand. "Deal. You still haven't told me the stakes though. I'm curious, what could you want from me that you don't already have?"

"Truth. If I win, you answer a question of my choice completely honestly, with nothing omitted." 

"And if I win? Do I get to ask you something, under the same conditions?" Lau asked, definitely sounding interested.

Ciel decided answering a question wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen in the unlikely case that he lost this. He nodded. "Fine. We're agreed on that then. Also, we've stopped moving. Is this it?" 

Lau looked out the window and nodded. "Let's go." he said, unnecessarily given that Ciel was already halfway out the door. 

As Lau had said, it was a fairly generic house. The walls were red brick. It seemed to be two stories with an attic. Sizable, but not a mansion. The front yard was simple, just freshly mown grass and an old oak tree off to the side. However, there was a path to the backyard, which was where they wanted to be.

"What if they have a guard dog?" Ciel muttered as they tried to walk as quietly as possible along the edge of the house. 

"They don't. Even if they did though, don't you trust that I could deal with it?" Lau whispered back. 

Ciel was about to make a biting retort when they got to the end of the path. It was blocked by a wooden gate with a padlock. "Rats!" Ciel whispered as angrily as an eighteen year old boy without very strong lungs trying to be quiet could. His efforts were quite impressive.

Lau, however, wasn't concerned. With a flash, he pulled some sort of needle out of his sleeve and began fiddling with the padlock. Ciel sat back and watched. He wasn't really sure what his desired outcome was. On one hand, he needed to get into the yard. On the other hand, it would be funny to see Lau fail.

Today apparently wasn't the day that he'd get to make fun of Lau for failing though. Moments later, with a soft click the lock fell open. "Good job." Ciel muttered, trying to sound as unimpressed as possible. It wasn't like he was going to admit that he actually was just the slightest bit impressed. He expected this kind of thing from Sebastian, but this was a human, and admittedly it was kind of cool.

Lau wasn't buying his tone, from the smug grin he gave him. Even in the dark, it was hard to miss. Ciel ignored it and pushed open the gate.

The back garden was completely unlike what they had seen of the rest of the house. Lau saying that it seemed a bit overgrown was an understatement. What had been blank brick facing the street was covered in thick vines in the back. What had been mown grass was weeds, overgrown shrubs, and grasslike plants that practically reached waist height. There was also an odd assortment of Grecian statues and assorted yard décor, all severely out of repair.

"I wonder which vase he meant?" Lau asked beside him, voicing his thoughts perfectly.

"I guess we'll just have to look through all of this." he sighed. "I was never very fond of plants."

"Hey earl?"

"What do you want?"

"Don't get lost in the grass."

Ciel shot him a glare as he smiled innocently at him. "I'm not that much shorter that you anymore, Lau. Find some new material to tease me about."

"Certainly. I'll get right to it. You noblemen are so fussy." he said with a sigh. Ignoring him, as usual, Ciel started to wade through the assorted vegetation. 

Half an hour later, he had fought with several thorny rosebushes, tripped over several objects such as logs, fallen statues, and one anthill, cut himself on a shard of broken pottery, and fallen in a small fishpond. However, he hadn't found any useful information or any sort of clue. 

Bleeding in several places and soaking wet, he trudged over to where Lau was inspecting a marble bust of a woman. "This is completely idiotic." he stated.

"It was your idea to come here, was it not?" Lau reminded him.

Ciel glowered. "Yes, well, I thought we might actually find something. I don't think there's anything here to be found though. We might as well leave and come back in broad daylight to talk to the owners. They might know something useful."

"Know something about what?" a voice from behind them asked sharply.

They both spun around to see a stern looking middle aged woman in a bathrobe, looking extremely intimidating with a kitchen knife raised defensively in her hand.

"I can explain-" Ciel started.

"Can you though?" Lau asked quietly. Ciel nudged him to shut up.

"Ma'am, we don't mean you any harm. This is just part of an investigation. I'm under orders from her majesty the Queen." he stated confidently.

Lau raised his eyebrows at the lie. Ciel was accustomed to lying though, and continued without batting an eye. "I'm afraid it's top secret, so I won't be able to give you any more answers than that. However, do you think you could answer some questions for us? It won't take more than a moment. I would have preferred to do this in the daytime, perhaps over a cup of tea. It can't be helped though. We're all here now, so we might as well get it over with."

The woman nodded. She still seemed slightly shook but she had lowered the knife. "I suppose we can still do the cup of tea. Why don't you two come inside? My home is always welcome to the queen's employees after all."

Ciel shrugged. "If it's not too much of a bother for you, Mrs.-"

He paused, not knowing her name. "Hilltree." she provided. He nodded. "If it's not too much of a bother for you, Mrs. Hilltree."

She shook her head. "None at all. I'm awake now anyways. Here, we can go in the backdoor." she said, quite cheerful now that there was no threat. Ciel looked at Lau and shrugged. Together, they both followed her through the jungle of a garden. 

A few moments later, the three of them were sitting at her kitchen table, each sipping earl grey out of a teacup. For the first time, Mrs. Hilltree seemed to notice Ciel's appearance. She did a double take and asked "What on earth happened to you?! Why are you soaking wet?"

"The earl wanted a swim, I think." Lau commented.

"Shut up Lau." Ciel answered. "I just tripped. Thank you for your concern though. Now, may we get to the questions? I'm sure you'd like to get back to bed."

She nodded. After sipping his tea again, Ciel started off. "Approximately eight years ago, your yard was being used as some sort of drop off for messages. Is there any information you could tell us related to that? Anything would help. A face you saw, a note you stumbled across. Can you remember anything like that?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you fellows, but I can't tell you anything. You see, I only moved here last year. I used to live in Yorkshire. I was pretty far away eight years ago."

Ciel cursed his luck. As he set his teacup down on the table angrily, Lau jumped in. "Do you think you could direct us to the previous owners then? That would be a huge help." he asked.

Mrs. Hilltree seemed to be in rather deep thought about it. "I could, but I feel like it would be an invasion of their privacy. I know you two are under orders, but I just don't feel I can give out that kind of information. You understand, don't you?"

Tonight was just getting worse and worse. Ciel was in a foul mood and he had half a mind to threaten this woman for what he wanted. It might be bad form, since she had done nothing wrong and he was technically intruding on her property, but he was just about done with tonight's nonsense.

Lau seemed to have other, and probably better, plans though. Subtly, he slid a few inches closer to her. "Are you sure about that Mrs.? Or is it Miss? I can't help but notice that you don't have a husband around. Why would that be?"

"What are you doing?" Ciel mouthed at Lau. To his annoyance, he was ignored. 

"He's just out. On business." she stuttered, seeming nervous.

"He left a pretty thing like you alone? I'm appalled." He chose this moment to place his hand over hers on the table. Ciel rolled his eyes. "My associate and I would never do that to you. We'd happily stay with you all night if you asked. That is what you want, isn't it?"

Ciel frowned. Whatever Lau was up to, he refused to be dragged into it. Just because he wanted to throw himself at some middle aged broad who fawned over the slightest bit of attention didn't mean he was involved. 

The whole thing was embarrassing to watch, honestly. This woman seemed to think that someone like Lau could actually want her. It was a ridiculous notion. Lau could be a nuisance, but he could do much better than her, even Ciel could admit that. 

"I suppose I wouldn't say no to that." she said with a giggle, and Ciel gritted his teeth. Just who did she think she was, going after him like that? Through his haze of anger, it took him a moment to remember that it had actually been Lau that instigated this. It also took him this long to wonder why this was even bothering him. Sebastian doing this sort of thing had never bothered him. 

It was in this moment, pouting across the kitchen table in some strangers house, that he realized something. He actually cared about Lau. That was the difference between him and Sebastian. He didn't care about what Sebastian did or who Sebastian was with because frankly, he didn't care about the demon. All he wanted from him was his revenge. But for some godforsaken reason, Lau was different. 

By now, Ciel prided himself in suppressing his emotions. He put this skill to good use, and shoved all these realizations down as far as possible before tuning back in to the conversation taking place before him.

"We'll both be happy to stay with you." Lau offered suggestively. "You just have to give us the names and address of the previous owners. That won't be so bad, hmm?"

She made a face that was supposed to look coy. "Are you sure I have to?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Just a few words, and I'm yours."

She leaned over and whispered something in his ear, Lau smiled triumphantly before glancing at the clock. "Well, it's been five minutes." he commented.

"Why does the time matter-" she started to ask before passing out in a dead faint. 

Ciel raised his eyebrows. "I drugged the tea." Lau explained.

"Next time, tell me what the plan is beforehand. Also, how did you know you'd get her to talk before she passed out?" 

"A side effect of the drug. It makes people lose their inhibitions and their ability to keep their mouth shut. Less likely to keep secrets." he answered, a slight smirk on his face. Ciel rolled his eyes. 

"Were you planning this all along then?" he asked as they stepped into the carriage. Lau shrugged.

"No. However, when we came inside, I noticed how she watched the both of us. It gave me an idea. After that, I just went with the flow. It was a better idea than nothing, eh earl?"

Ciel shrugged. "It worked. I suppose I didn't have any better ideas." He hemmed and hawed for a moment. "I suppose I owe you a thank you."

Lau only laughed. "No thanks needed, lord earl. This has been quite the entertaining night. I'd pay good money to see you fall in a fishpond and get irrationally jealous in the span of a few hours any day."

Ciel spun his head around. "Irrationally what?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys! It means so much to me. Also, if you ever want to hit me up, my tumblr is finnyisanactualrayofsunshine. I'm always down to talk to people about a mutual love of black butler.


	6. The dinner party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get a break from the drama for some lighthearted times featuring Sieglinde and the Midfords.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda late but hella long, so you win some, you lose some. Thank you so much for reading! If you have advice or thoughts or just general reviews, comments make my day so don't be afriad to leave them! Love you all.

As much as Ciel enjoyed spending time with Lizzy, he absolutely hated going to dinner at her house. There were several reasons for this. These reasons included the fact that it often ended in jealous outbursts from Edward, teasing comments from Alexis, and having his ass kicked in a fencing match with Francis. Annoying as these things were though, they weren't the main reason for his dislike of these visits.

The main reason for his dislike of these visits was the dress code, or more accurately the hair code. He hated having his hair combed back. However, here he was, knocking on their doorstep, hair combed back and cursing his fate. 

It took approximately two seconds after he knocked for Lizzy to throw open the door and fling herself on him in an enthusiastic hug. He gave her a light pat on the back before untangling himself from her grasp. "I hope I'm on time?" he asked, stepping through the doorway.

She nodded cheerfully. "Of course silly, you're always on time. I haven't seen you in ages though. Why don't you come over more often?" she pouted.

"You saw me a few days ago!" he objected. 

"Well, that's too long. I'm so happy you're here now though! Sieglinde's really excited to see you again too." she answered, dragging him down the hallway by the hand as he tried to take off his coat. Fortunately, their butler intervened and took his coat for him. This left him free to be dragged around as much as Lizzy liked.

"Sieglinde's here?" he asked. "You two seem to be getting along quite well lately."

She nodded again. "Oh yes, we've become quite close. She's a wonderful friend, I'm so glad you brought her back to England with you. We spend so much time together now. She's so smart, and funny, and she's absolutely adorable. Don't you think she's the prettiest thing?" 

Ciel wasn't sure what to say. In most circumstances, this would seem like a trick question. However, Lizzy didn't seem to be jealous of Sieglinde at all. If anything, she seemed slightly in awe of her. From the conversation's he had had with Sieglinde, he knew that she seemed to feel the same way about Lizzy. It seemed that singing each other's praises were their favourite hobbies.

"Er, yes? She is pretty, I suppose. I've never really noticed."

Lizzy laughed sweetly. "You never seem to notice other girls. You're such a gentleman, I'm so lucky to have you!"

Ciel smiled smugly at the praise. Of course he was more of a gentleman than most men around. He made an effort to be seen that way. Lizzy however, lost interest in his better qualities in favour of talking about Sieglinde again.

"You see, she's never met your friend Lau before, and I just thought it would be wonderful if we could all have dinner together, as a whole group of friends. Don't you think it was a good idea?"

Ciel nodded. "It was a great idea, as usual. Has Lau shown up yet?"

"No, but I'm sure he'll be here in a minute. Sieglinde was just early." Lizzy answered. Before she could say anything more, they reached the tea room where the guests and family were sitting. 

Francis gave him a curt nod from where she sat on the sofa. "Good to see you Ciel." 

"Good to see you too, Aunt Francis." he answered politely.

There was a moment of tension before all hell broke lose. Alexis started to laugh heartily over something in the newspaper. Edward made some sort of exclamation over how Ciel hadn't brought Lizzy flowers and therefor didn't deserve her or her invitations. Sieglinde yelled at Ciel to come over and look at something, brash and to the point as always. All of these things happened in the span of five seconds.

Ciel was always slightly amused by how the Midfords had taken Sieglinde under their wing, despite how she could sometimes forget her manners when she got excited or upset. It seemed that they would accept anyone if they were important to Lizzy. Ciel felt a surge of gratitude over this. Lizzy had suffered more than she had any right to, she deserved to have some good things in her life too.

For the first time since Sebastian's death, he felt something resembling relief over the end of the contract. At least he wasn't living on borrowed time. At least he didn't have the weight of Lizzy's coming grief on his shoulders. She wouldn't have to lose him before she was ready to cope with that kind of loss.

He was shook out of his thoughts by another call from Sieglinde. He went over to where she rested on the armchair to see what she wanted to show him so urgently. 

"I made you gift!" she said, beaming, when he got over there. 

"What's the gift?" he asked suspiciously. Last time she had told him that she made him a gift, it had been a tiny robotic spider. The mechanics of it were fascinating, but he still hadn't quite figured out what he was supposed to do with it. Besides, it kept getting in the laundry and making Mey Rin scream. She had quite the voice when something scared her, that was for certain.

She pulled something that looked like a spyglass out of the folds of her dress. When Ciel continued to look at it suspiciously, she pressed a notch in the side. Suddenly it extended to be about three feet long. Ciel had to jump out of the way to avoid being impaled.

"It's a height adjustable cane." she explained. "Lizzy mentioned that you needed a new one because your old one got too short. So, I got to thinking, what if you never had to replace one? With this one, you can change the height as you grow. Being able to fit it in your pocket is just an added bonus." she finished, pressing the notch again so it shrunk down to fit in her palm.

"Isn't it wonderful?! She's so clever." Lizzy exclaimed, appearing behind his shoulder. Sieglinde blushed a bit at the praise. Before she could return any compliments to Lizzy, their butler knocked on the door politely. 

"Your last guest has arrived." he said with a small bow. Ciel grinned behind his hand. This is what he had been looking foreword to. 

He sat down on the couch beside Sieglinde's armchair, and was joined by Lizzy. Together, they waited apprehensively for Lau's appearance and whatever chaos would come after. However, when Lau finally came in the door Ciel got the shock of his life.

Ciel had seen Lau in an English suit one time in his life. That was when he helped him, Sebastian, and Madame Red slip into the Viscount's party in order to find Jack the Ripper. He had always assumed that that would be the last time he saw the man in a suit. Apparently he was wrong about that, though.

"He looks rather different from last time, doesn't he?" Lizzy whispered. Ciel had to nod. He did look rather different.

To start with, there was the suit. A formal black dinner jacket and pressed white shirt made him the picture of a British gentleman. There was even a tie to set the look off.

If that wasn't jarring enough, there was his hair. Instead of his usual soft fringe falling across his forehead, it was slicked back in a way that Francis was sure to approve of. 

His posture was immensely better than usual, and his hand was free of any sort of pipe. In fact, for once his sleeves weren't covering his hands at all. This added to the appearance of an upstanding citizen. 

Ciel shook his head a few times in a hopeless attempt to understand what he was seeing. It didn't work. Instead, his confusion only increased when Lau made a small bow in Francis's direction and said in a sickeningly respectful tone of voice, "Thank you so much for your invitation, my lady. I'm honoured to be here."

Francis seemed sceptical, but welcomed him none the less. After their formalities were exchanged, she gave him permission to go to where Ciel, Sieglinde, and Lizzy sat to "socialize with his friends" as she said.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ciel whispered angrily when he sat down. When Francis looked their way, he switched his expression to imply small talk.

"Just trying to make the best impression possible on my new friend's family." he answered innocently. As Lizzy fawned over his efforts, he winked at Ciel. Ciel didn't dignify this with a response. All Lau was getting was a death glare.

"He's so handsome!" Sieglinde commented in her usual brash manner. "Ciel, why are all your friends so attractive?" 

Ciel rolled his eyes. "They're not. You just have bad taste in men." 

"Oh?" Lau piped up. "What's your taste in men then, if it's so much better than hers?"

As Sieglinde grinned, Ciel made a mental note to have sort of revenge for this by the end of the night.

Fortunately, there ended up being an escape from the conversation for him. "Where did Lizzy go?" he asked suddenly.

They all looked around the room but their friend was no where to be seen. "She left after you called me handsome." Lau commented. 

"We should go find her." Sieglinde stated. The others agreed. However, they needed a way to escape the room without Francis asking questions. 

The plan they settled on was to tell her that Lizzy was showing them the gardens, but she was already waiting in the hall. Francis accepted this, although somewhat reluctantly. "I'm trusting you to keep them out of trouble. Since you're older, I hope you'll be a good influence on them." she told Lau.

After watching Sieglinde stagger to keep up with them on her crutches, Lau stopped them short. "This would be faster if I just carried you." he said.

"Are you offering or just stating the obvious?" she asked, gasping for air.

"Offering." 

She paused for a minute. "Fine. But I'm a lady, so don't even think of making any moves." she threatened. Lau held up his hands in innocence while Ciel rolled his eyes again. 

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Satisfied, she let Lau scoop her up bridal style. Now moving at a faster pace, they started to search for Lizzy in earnest.

Five guest bedrooms, the kitchens, the dining room, and the pantry were searched before they collided with her as she came in from the gardens. Apparently their lie to Francis hadn't been that far off.

"Where did you go?" Sieglinde asked from where she was perched in Lau's arms.

"I just went outside for some fresh air. I didn't think you would miss me, you're so busy with Lau and how handsome he is."

Ciel was surprised by the bitterness in her tone. Sieglinde looked stricken though. She jumped down from Lau's arms. She stumbled for a bit, but caught her balance when she reached out to grab Lizzy's shoulders.

"Of course I missed you! You're the most important person here!" she cried.

"Well, looks like you're not important." Lau whispered to Ciel, who jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow.

"Really?" Lizzy asked, blushing a bit. Sieglinde nodded, gazing up at her. She still hadn't let go of her shoulders. 

Lau was looking at them curiously. He seemed to have gears turning in his head, which frankly concerned Ciel. He coughed to break up the moment. 

"Right. Sorry." Sieglinde squeaked. 

They decided that they should head back to rejoin the group. Otherwise, they might arouse suspicion. They had been gone long enough. 

To Lizzy's annoyance, Lau carried Sieglinde the rest of the way back. By the time they arrived at the sitting room, it was time for the dinner.

They all took their seats at the long table. Lau was placed between Ciel and Lizzy. As they ate their salmon entrée, Francis quizzed Lau about his life at a rapid fire pace. He must have planned for this well in advance, as he had an answer ready for every single one of the questions. Francis was increasingly impressed, and Ciel was increasingly dismayed. 

Suddenly he remembered that he wanted some sort of revenge on Lau this evening. Quickly, a plan formulated in his head. "Aunt Francis?" he started. "Our friend Lau here was mentioning that he'd like to try a fencing match with you. Would you be interested in trying that after dinner? Lizzy, Sieglinde and I could watch?"

"Ciel, that's not very nice of you. He's your friend, after all." Lizzy whispered to him. Ciel shrugged. "How do you know he won't win?" he answered.

Lizzy looked at him with a mixture of scepticism and disapproval. However, when he looked to Lau, the man didn't seem particularly concerned. Maybe he was unaware of Francis's reputation. That would change soon enough, he thought to himself. 

"If none of our guests would mind, I'd be happy to." Francis agreed after a moments consideration. 

"I can hardly wait." Lau answered.

The rest of the dinner went by fairly quickly. The main course was followed by a blackberry tart. There was also tea, and a selection of dessert wines to choose from. This had become the norm ever since Ciel and Lizzy had reached adulthood. Being the youngest of them, Sieglinde was banned from trying it. Ciel was pretty sure he saw Lau slip her some with a wink. Figuring this wasn't the worst thing Lau could slip her, he didn't bother interfering. 

Well fed and feeling a slight buzz from the alcohol, Ciel went to the ballroom with everyone else for the match. The sun was beginning to set behind the curtains, so they lit a few lights before beginning. 

What happened next was talked about in all the social circles for months afterwards. It was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. It was nothing anyone would ever see again. It left everyone in the room shocked and awed.

Lau won the match. 

Not only that, he won it in minutes. Apparently without difficulty, either. He moved like lightening, with speed and dexterity that was incredible. At the end, he shook her hand, smiling benignly as though unaware of the shocked expressions of everyone in the room.

"Good game, huh? That was fun, if I say so myself." he said cheerfully. 

After having a moment to recover, Alexis started to laugh. Sieglinde and Lizzy both looked star struck, to Ciel's immense annoyance. Edward seemed to be choking, but no one was really paying attention to him. Ciel was only really worried about Francis's reaction. When she shook his hand and smiled, his worst fears were confirmed. By some miraculous turn of events, Francis approved of Lau.

Ciel took this moment to reflect on the state of things. Sebastian, supposedly immortal, had died. Lau, supposedly a man of dubious character, was now considered a good influence. What would be next? Lizzy not being in love with him? He laughed to himself. That was too unrealistic, even in this topsy turvy reality.

Edward had approached Lau, looking nervous. "Do you think...do you think you could teach me to fight like that?" he asked. "You were just so wonderful, I've never seen anything like it. I'd love to learn. I mean, only if you want to! Do you want to?"

Lau turned, looked Ciel dead in the eye, and gave him a shit eating grin. "I'd be happy to." he agreed. As the two of them worked out when and where they'd have lessons, Ciel slumped down in his seat and groaned.

"Something wrong?" Lizzy asked, concerned. 

"No. No, nothing wrong. Nothing at all." Ciel muttered, glaring daggers at Lau's back. 

It seemed that as the years went on, it got harder and harder to escape the man. He showed up at his house uninvited, he made friends with his fiancée, he was giving lessons to his cousin, he was everywhere. It was Ciel's cruel fate. Ciel ignored the nagging thought in the back of his mind that if he had to be stuck with someone so often, he was actually sort of glad it was Lau. Those thoughts were irrational and decidedly not to be dwelled on.

Eventually they made it back to the sitting room. Ciel stood by the doorway, sipping tea sullenly. Lau, never one to pass up an opportunity to annoy him, came over to join him.

"They seem to get along quite well." Lau said, gesturing to where Sieglinde and Lizzy sat, laughing together. 

Ciel nodded. "They do. I'm happy for Lizzy that she's found such a close friend. It's odd how they almost fought earlier today though. I wonder why Sieglinde's flirting bothered her so much?" 

"I'd guess it's because she's in love with her. Classic jealousy." Lau quipped back. Ciel, mid sip, spilled his entire cup of tea down his shirtfront and proceeded to double over in pain.

"You alright, earl?" Lau asked. He seemed uncharacteristically concerned, but really, who could judge what was characteristic for Lau.

"Hot!" Ciel muttered. As soon as he could catch his breath, he ducked out of the room. Lau followed him. 

"Damn!" Ciel whispered in a panic. "I need to change into something. Francis will have a fit if she sees me like this! I'll never hear the end of it. What do I do, what do I do..."

"Do you know where the blonde boy's room is? He probably has a similar shirt that would fit you. No one would notice and you could return it later." Lau suggested.

He nodded. "That'll work. Tell Francis that we're just getting some fresh air and we'll be back soon, then come with me."

It was only after Lau had ducked back in to relay the message that he realized he didn't actually need him to come with him. It didn't do any harm though, so when he came back out Ciel just gestured for him to follow along.

It took them a few minutes to get to Edward's room. This was mainly due to the size of the house. As they approached the door, Ciel suddenly remembered what made him spill his tea in the first place.

"Why did you say that Lizzy's in love with Sieglinde? You know how ridiculous that sounds, don't you?" Ciel said accusingly. 

"If by how ridiculous it sounds you mean not ridiculous at all, then yes, I know that it sounds that way. Really lord earl, are you so completely oblivious that you can't see what's in front of you?"

Once in the room, Ciel started thumbing through the wardrobe before answering him. "What's in front of me is that Lizzy's in love with me. She always has been. What on earth would make you think otherwise?!"

Lau hummed. "Well, let's see. She's all she talks about, she blushes every time her name is brought up, she looks at her all the time when she thinks no one's paying attention. She got jealous when she flirted with me, and they practically kissed when they made up. You can't be telling me you missed all that? Are you sure you aren't mistaking a combination of her deep familial feelings for you and the pressure society has put on her to have romantic feelings for her fiancée as something more than it is? It's clear that she loves you. I'm only suggesting that she's not in love with you, earl."

Ciel hated evidence against him, and he hated how everything he considered normal seemed to be turning on him. So, he decided to ignore it. Only for the time being, of course, but there was no use fretting over it right now. Instead, he pulled a shirt and jacket out of Edward's wardrobe.

"Fine. Maybe you're right. I'll talk to her about it myself, as much as I dread it. For now, let's just finish up here and head back down."

With that, he pulled off his dinner jacket and began unbuttoning his white dress shirt. "Congratulations on winning our bet, by the way." he said with his back turned. He slipped off the white shirt. "I'm not fond of losing, but it did make an entertaining evening." 

There was a long pause. He was about to turn around when Lau spoke up, closer to his ear than he had anticipated, making him jump. "Where's this from, earl?" he asked softly.

"Where's what from?" Ciel asked irritably. In response, he felt Lau reach out and brush his hand against a spot on his back. For a moment, he shivered at the soft touch. Then, he realized what Lau was talking about.

"When they tortured me, they left a brand." he answered simply. "I suppose you haven't seen it before."

"Who else has seen it?" Lau asked.

"Only Sebastian. And you now too, I suppose."

Lau made a small sound of acknowledgement that Ciel couldn't decode in a million years. With one last brush of his thumb against the mark, Lau left to wait by the door. "You should hurry up. They're probably waiting for us." he suggested.

Ciel shook himself. He must have lost his head for a moment, letting Lau touch him like that. Still, it hadn't been unpleasant. The whole thing had just been...odd. That was the word for it. Definitely odd.

Once he was dressed in Edward's makeshift clothes, he headed back downstairs with Lau. "Are you actually planning on giving Ed lessons or was the just to annoy me?" Ciel asked.

"Me? Try to annoy you?"

At Ciel's glare he gave in. "Fine, fine. It was originally to annoy you, but I'm still going to do it. I could ask him for the gossip about you. Not only that, he's quite attractive. Have you noticed?"

"Why would I notice a thing like that?" Ciel spluttered just as Lizzy bounced into the hall. "There you are!" she squeaked. "You were gone so long, we started to get worried!"

"I wasn't worried." Sieglinde said from beside her, grinning. "I'm leaving now though, Wolf doesn't want me out too late. When are you two leaving?"

Looking at the time, Ciel decided it was probably time for him to leave too. Twenty minutes later, he was on his way home in the carriage, head spinning from all the night's events.


	7. Another social call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lau and Ciel have more carriage conversations, and gain a new lead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes: I have no idea how British family crests work, and have done the bare minimum in terms of research, so if anything related to this is appallingly wrong, i apologize. Also, Lau and Ciel's aliases were shamelessly stolen from the shining for no plot relevance other than the fact that I felt like it.

"We do this a lot lately, don't we?" Ciel commented in an attempt to make conversation. He wasn't usually one for making conversation but these long carriage rides and their accompanying boredom were starting to get to him.

"I suppose we do. I can't complain though. It's rather entertaining to see how bored you get, after all. You must have done this a lot with that butler of yours, though. What did you do with him?" Lau answered.

For once, they weren't making this trip at the dead of night. Since this was a social call to the previous owners of the house they had visited, there was no need to show up at midnight. In fact, it would have been rather counter productive. Despite what their previous experience might imply, it was usually hard to ask people questions at one in the morning. Not everyone was a night owl like that Hilltree woman.

Instead, it was a bright sunny afternoon. They had taken off just after lunch in order to make the long journey. This journey was long because the previous owners had been fond of the countryside, and decided to abandon the polluted streets of London for it. Ciel and Lau had been in the carriage for an hour or so already.

Ciel shrugged. "We usually just talked about whatever case we were working on. Not the most stimulating conversation perhaps, but then again few conversations are." 

"So why don't you talk about the case with me? It would fill the time." Lau suggested.

"What case? I don't have any work from the queen right now. She seems to be giving me time to grieve for Sebastian, oddly enough."

Lau raised his eyebrows. "Why is that odd? I would have thought that that would be a reasonable response for her, given the circumstances. Aside from that though, I meant our case."

Ciel took a moment to look out at the rolling hills passing by before answering. This could have been a genuine desire to see the view, but in all likelihood it was just an attempt to seem deep and melodramatic. It wasn't uncommon for him to do that.

"She's never been the most sympathetic sort, even when she does act like it outwardly. She can send letters of condolences, and pay visits to Britain's newcomers all she likes, but in the end there's always an ulterior motive. The letters are all politics. The visits are only paid to those she feels are valuable to her. There's never any real sympathy or kindness from her, only means to and end. You're generally pretty cynical, I can't see why you'd be surprised." 

Lau's lips curled into a sly smile. "Right as always, earl. I wasn't surprised. I suppose I was just curious about your opinion on it."

Ciel sighed. "My opinion doesn't matter though. Whatever I think of her, and all...this, I'm still a loyal watchdog. That's all that matters."

There was a pause in the conversation. Ciel went to look out the window again before Lau spoke up. "Who did she pay a visit to?" he asked. "That doesn't seem like normal behaviour for the queen."

Ciel thought to himself for a moment before answering. He wasn't quite sure how to summarize Sieglinde's incredibly complicated past. Not only that, he wasn't sure that she'd want him to. There were parts of the story that must have been deeply personal to her. When he did answer, he chose his words carefully. 

"Do you remember Sieglinde, from the Midford's?" 

"The one who couldn't walk?"

Ciel nodded. "Yes, that's the one. Basically, she had a special talent that Victoria knew of. When I brought her back to England with me-"

"Where did she live before?" Lau interrupted to ask. 

Ciel glared at him. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't notice her accent."

"That's not an answer."

Lau only snickered when Ciel told him to shut up. Rolling his eyes, Ciel continued. "When I brought her back to England with me, we managed to convince the queen that she had nothing else to offer, and didn't need to be under her employ. However, Victoria certainly didn't lose interest in her. She's paid her frequent visits over the past few years. She makes sure Sieglinde stays loyal to her."

Lau nodded. "I see." 

Ciel remembered one of the things he had said earlier in the conversation. "What do you want to say about the case then? You suggested that we could talk about it."

Lau shrugged and smiled. "Oh, I don't have any ideas. I was sort of hoping you would."

"Right."

They both looked at each other for a moment as the silence stretched on. Ciel found himself noticing that Lau had very nice eyelashes. This wasn't the first time that he found himself thinking that Lau could be very attractive if one subtracted his general personality. He couldn't blame whatever his name was from the docks for having whatever it was he had with him. Ciel wondered briefly what they had done together. Would Lau really have told him, that night when they were waiting in the rain? He had to admit, he was curious. What would Lau be like in bed? 

This was about the moment that he decided keeping to his own thoughts was not a good idea, so he coughed and attempted to restart the conversation. He made an effort not to look at Lau or his eyelashes as he did so.

"Well, let's talk about what we know." Ciel started. "The guy from the docks burned the manor down. He was hired by a guy in a mask. He got his instructions from an urn in the yard we visited recently. We're hoping to get some sort of information from the people who owned the yard. Is that it?"

Lau nodded. "I think so. Have you considered something though, earl? What if the people we're going to see were involved in all this, and it wasn't just coincidence that their yard was used?"

Ciel hadn't thought of that, but it was quite possible. "If that's the case, I suppose there are two possible outcomes. The first is that they pretend to know nothing. That'll leave us at a dead end. We could threaten them, but that's only a last resort. There's no need to make this messier than it needs to be. The second possibility is that they try to silence us, knowing we're on to them. We'll have to be careful."

Lau nodded again. "I'm armed. Are you?"

Ciel pulled a pistol out from where it lay hidden in the inner pocket of his cloak. "Do you just walk around armed at all times?" he asked.

"Do you?"

"It's a dangerous line of work."

"So is mine."

Ciel nodded. He wasn't going to pry on the subject of Lau's work today. He hadn't won the bet to ask Lau a question, after all. That reminded him of the bet. "You won our bet, remember? Are you ever going to collect?" he asked.

When Lau grinned, Ciel immediately regretted reminding him. However, in all likelihood, he hadn't forgotten. He had probably just been waiting for Ciel to bring it up. Still, fair was fair. Ciel had lost. He would just have to accept the consequences. 

"So earl, one question. You have to answer with the full and absolute truth. Agreed?"

Ciel nodded and Lau paused for dramatic effect. Apparently Ciel wasn't the only one with need to be melodramatic about anything and everything possible. Finally, after the pause had gone on for a sufficiently long time, Lau asked his question.

"Are you in love with Lizzy?" he asked.

Ciel raised his eyebrows. It was an odd question. Very odd. "Of course I love her-" he started, but Lau interrupted him.

"I know you love her, that much is obvious."

"Then why did you ask-"

"That isn't what I asked. I asked if you're in love with her. There's a difference."

Ciel was about to answer again, but then stopped short. He had never really sat down and thought about this before, but now he was being forced to and it made him come to an unfortunate realization. He wasn't actually sure.

It seemed he was going to need more time to think about this question. Lau seemed to realize this and spoke up, saying "Take your time. You just have to answer by the end of the drive."

Ciel was talented at ignoring his feelings. He was talented at pushing them deep down and pretending they didn't exist. Unfortunately, dealing with his feelings was not one of those talents. He was completely out of practice, too.

Of course he loved Lizzy. He loved her with all his heart. But was he in love with her? What did it even mean to be in love? He came up with a list of criteria in his head. 

Did he want to kiss her? Debatable. It wasn't that she wasn't pretty, but he didn't feel any need to kiss her. It wouldn't be terrible, it just wouldn't be any different from kissing Aunt Francis on the cheek, or something like that. He was pretty sure that that wasn't how people who were in love felt about kissing their lover. He checked that one as a "No".

Did he want to go to bed with her? Once again, it wouldn't be terrible. Still, there was no urge or desire to. Lizzy was beautiful of course, but he just couldn't think of her that way. He checked that one off as a "No" too.

Did he miss her when they were apart? Well. That was debatable. He was always happy to see her, but it didn't make his heart ache to be apart from her. Or however the poets were describing it lately. Either way, he didn't feel that kind of stuff over her. This got a "No".

Did he get jealous over her? He considered how he felt over the possibility of her being in love with Sieglinde. He had been shocked and confused, sure. But jealous? It hadn't felt like jealousy. It hadn't even really bothered him. If anything, he had been relieved that she would have someone there for her if anything ever happened to him. Yet another "No" on the list.

Did he get butterflies or some other insects moving in his stomach over her? Ignoring that that sounded like something which would need medical attention, he considered how he felt when he thought of her or saw her. He always felt happy. There were other people he felt happy seeing though. His feelings when he saw her were generally just the feelings of seeing someone he generally cared about. They weren't special. In terms of how he felt thinking about her, he was forced to realize that he didn't actually think about her when they weren't together. There rarely seemed any reason to. He'd never really just sat down and daydreamed about her like people in love did. This one seemed to be a "No" too. Oh well.

He briefly thought about how often his thoughts had been drifting to the subject of Lau lately, especially when he had nothing to do. However, this wasn't time for realisations about Lau. This was time for realisations about Lizzy, and there were enough of them to take up his full mental capacity for at least a few more minutes.

"How's it coming there?" Lau asked, bringing Ciel back to reality. 

"Uhm. Good?"

"Have an answer yet?"

Ciel thought to himself. The evidence was certainly leading to a pretty clear conclusion. He cleared his throat. "Yes, I suppose I have. No, I'm not in love with her. There you go."

It seemed that Lau's curiosity wasn't satisfied. If anything, he looked like he had more questions. The bet had only entailed one though. "That's lucky for you, you wont feel too rejected when she inevitably ends up with the German girl."

"Ha!" Ciel crowed. "You do know what country she's from!"

"Did I ever say I didn't?"

Ciel sighed but decided not to pursue it. Lau however, wasn't done. "Is there anyone else you're in love with then, lord earl?" he asked.

"You only get one question." Ciel objected.

"And you can't just tell me as a friend?"

Ciel groaned, but since there wasn't anyone, there was no harm in answering. "No. No one. What about you though? Anyone you've fallen for?" 

"Only you, lord earl." he teased. Ciel rolled his eyes at Lau's antics. He needed to give it a rest. However, this hadn't been that bad a conversation and they were just arriving at their destination now, so he could cut the guy some slack. 

Ignoring what could only have been a joke or bait for some other conversation, Ciel stood up in the cramped space. "It seems we're here." he announced.

After they got out of the carriage, they took a moment to adjust to the harsh sunlight. "Nice house." Lau commented.

Ciel took a look at it. It was large, that was for certain. It didn't really fit in with the style of the London elite though. The white walls and vegetable garden were much more of a rural farmer's aesthetic. Each to their own, Ciel supposed.

"I think it's rather simple." Ciel answered. The only real purpose of the response was to disagree with Lau. It was one of his favourite hobbies.

"You never agree with me about anything, do you?" Lau asked. "It's rather cute."

Ciel raised his eyebrows. "Why would that be cute? You say the strangest things, Lau."

Without giving him a chance to answer, Ciel knocked on the door of the farmhouse. 

There was the sound of a dog barking before a boy of about seven opened the door. "Are your parents home?" Ciel asked him.

The child agreed to go get his parents. Ciel and Lau waited in the doorway for his return. Moments later, he came back with a woman of about thirty years with a smudge of flour on her cheek. "Hello." she greeted. "Have we met before?"

Ciel shook his head. "No ma'am. We just have some questions for you about your previous home. Official business, from the yard. Mightn't we come in?"

She nodded. "Certainly. I'll show you to the dining room, and then I'll put on a pot of tea."

After she had left to do just that, Ciel turned to where Lau sat. "She seems harmless. Of course you can never tell, but I don't think she would have had a part in any of this."

Lau nodded. "Perhaps. Still, you shouldn't be too trusting, earl. People aren't always what they seem. Keep that pistol of yours close."

"Well, I wasn't saying I was going to hand it to her in a gesture of good faith, I just meant-"

He was interrupted by the woman's return. "I'm afraid I don't know your names." she started, pouring them each a cup of tea. 

"You can call me Jack. Jack Torrance." Ciel said. Lau raised his eyebrows at him, Ciel shot him a look in response. Since he was lying about this involving the yard and the queen, he didn't exactly want to throw his name around. It was unfortunate that he was easy to describe, what with the eye patch and all, but it couldn't be helped. At least an alias would help. 

"And I'm Daniel Torrance." Lau added. "We're brothers."

The woman choked a bit, but quickly recovered herself. Apparently she had enough manners to not say anything outright though. Ciel settled with glaring at Lau. Unfortunately, as usual, it appeared to have no effect on him.

"Well, I'm Mrs. Woodriff, but you can call me Marian. What is it you gentlemen wanted to ask me about?"

"We're investigating a group that used your yard in London eight years ago to leave messages. Can you remember anything useful related to this? Did you ever catch anyone trespassing, or find any notes left lying around?" Ciel asked.

Marian sipped her tea thoughtfully. "Eight years was a long time ago."

"Just see if you can remember anything." Ciel prodded.

She sat there, sipping and thinking for a few moments longer. As they stretched on, Ciel began to tap his foot impatiently. Apparently Lau noticed. "You still act like a child sometimes, don't you?" he whispered. Ciel kicked his shin under the table. All of this went unnoticed by Marian, who was still deep in thought.

Suddenly, she put her teacup down with a bang. "I just remembered!" she cried, slightly flustered. "I don't know how I could have forgotten either. It was so very odd."

Ciel sighed with relief. Finally, they were getting somewhere. 

"This one evening, my husband and I were sitting out in the backyard when we noticed a rustling in the bushes. We went to investigate. After all, it could have been another one of those damned squirrels that kept getting in our walls. Really, those squirrels are awful, it's frankly part of why we moved-"

Ciel coughed. She blushed before getting back on track. "Whoops, there I go again. I'm terribly sorry for that. Anyhow, it turned out to be not a squirrel at all, but a young man! Would you believe that? He was just in rags, so when he told us that he had been sleeping there because it was safer than the street, we wrote it off as the truth. We never saw him again, either. It was only a week later though, that my husband brought something up. We had both noticed it, but I suppose the whole thing had been so distracting we hadn't thought about what it meant."

"What was it?" Ciel asked impatiently. 

"It was a ring. The type that's passed down as a heirloom of noble families. It could have been stolen, I suppose, but somehow I have the strangest feeling that it wasn't. Not only that, he spoke like a nobleman. None of it added up. Ever since then, I've often found myself wondering about him and what it all meant."

Ciel kept a poker face, but inside he was cheering with triumph. This could be a clue. This could be a big clue. "What was the crest on the ring?" he asked, on the edge of his seat.

She took a moment to remember. Finally, she answered. "It was a wild boar, if I remember correctly."

Ciel looked at Lau and nodded. "That will be all for now, Mrs. Woodriff." he said, standing up. Lau followed suit. "Thank you for your help."

She smiled cheerfully and thanked them for the visit. After all their pleasantries were exchanged, she showed them to the door, and the two of them prepared for another long carriage ride home. There would be plenty to talk about though. After all, they had a next step. The crest with a wild boar belonged to the Lovett family. It seemed they would be paying them a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and leaving kudos or comments, it means so much to me! Also if y'all ever write fics yourselves, please write Ciel/Lau. I'm desperate. So desperate.


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